Inseparable
by tebrighteyes
Summary: Set after COM. SoraxRiku SoraxKairi. The first time Riku fights Roxas things go very differently resulting in a chain reaction of devastating effects. Riku is incapacitated, Kairi discovers her true power, and Sora wakes up to a nearly destroyed world.
1. The Start

Inseparable

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts

Summary: Set after COM. The first time Riku fights Roxas things go very differently resulting in a chain reaction of devastating effects. Riku is incapacitated, Kairi discovers her true power, Roxas is afraid of death, and Sora wakes up much later then intended to a world that is quickly falling apart. This is going to be epic.

Pairings: Eventual SoraxRiku and SoraxKairi, others I'm not sure about maybe some RoxasxNaminé although no more then what was implied in the game and also AxelxRoxas friendship. I want to stay as true as I can to the characters so the SoraxRiku is going to be a bit one sided at first. I'm not really going to focus to much on pairings anyway but more on the story.

Chapter 1: The Start

Riku always thought Sora looked so peaceful asleep inside of the pod. The keyblade master's eyes were lightly closed with dark lashes fanned out across his cheeks, face calm and lips slightly parted, showing no indication that he was alive at all except for the barely noticeable rise and fall of his chest.

Donald and Goofy were there too of course but Riku always felt removed from them and so never regarded them.

In over a year of watching Sora sleep, Riku had never seen his friend's eyes so much as wrinkle at the edges or even the random twitch of a finger. Sora slept on, always completely still and unaware.

Riku was secretly glad for this, wanting Sora's mind to be as peaceful as the brunet appeared from the outside, only hoping his friend did not suffer from dark memories and terror filled dreams. Riku knew all to well what the nightmares were like, nightmares that would wake the silver haired teen up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, gasping for breath, and clutching his shoulders to try and drag himself back into reality. Sora at least if nothing else deserved to sleep undisturbed, the keyblade master did not need dreams.

Riku could not count the number of times he stood in the stark white room, watching Sora's sleeping figure for hours on end, sometimes talking to him but of course, Sora never answered back. Riku noticed the changes in Sora over the quickly passing year. The burnet was still small and his body still extremely lanky but he had grown, limbs were longer, jutting out awkwardly, shoulders were broader and muscles larger even after so much time spent being unused. The once bright red clothing that used to fit him perfectly was now plainly too small for him.

Riku felt a sudden urge to see Sora's eyes, only to know if they too had changed in their blue intensity.

It was not that Sora just changed physically either. The brunet would never again be the same carefree fourteen-year-old Riku had known back on Destiny Islands. Gone forever would be the days when he would follow Riku around with a wooden sword asking for a spar or for a race. Sora would never win but that never stopped him from trying. He'd cross his arms in mock anger, pout, and then challenge Riku again with twice as much effort. Sora still never won.

Sora would not draw in the secret place with Kairi anymore or help her build sandcastles decorated with seaweed dried from the sun, wouldn't walk along the beach with a grin on his face as he watched the redheaded girl collect thalassa shells.

The time when the three of them would lean against the paopu tree and watch the sunset had only been scarcely over a year ago but felt like a lifetime away. Riku could almost still hear their endless conversations as they talked about their dreams and adventure, fantasizing about other worlds and a small raft that would get them there.

The three of them had been so innocent then but Riku…

Riku had been an absolute fool. The aqua eyed teen was older then the other two, the mature one, arrogant, and cocky. At the time, he thought nothing could hurt him, that he could face anything and still come out on top, until the storm that would forever change the three of their lives.

Riku wanted so badly to escape Destiny Islands, a place that felt more like a prison cell then the sanctuary it was supposed to represent. His father drank and was never home. His mother was depressed and hardly spoke to him. His parents never went out of their way to be cruel to him but Riku was repeatedly ignored, growing up fast and learning to take care of himself. On the rare occasions, that his father was home Riku would often initiate screaming matches with him. A few times, they even turned violent and yet Riku couldn't stop himself from seeking the confrontations out.

Riku had nothing on the islands except for isolation, broken beer bottles, and his best friend, a blue-eyed boy who was oblivious to everything yet somehow with just one bright smile was able to keep him sane.

Riku always knew somehow he'd find a way to escape Destiny Islands, the raft being just one of his several ideas, regardless of whatever he might have told Kairi once. He seriously doubted how far it would get them but still it was better then nothing, better then not knowing.

Then when the darkness had offered him a way out he took it without a second thought. Even now he could still feel the cold slithering ropes of midnight black wrapping around every inch of his skin and pulling him down into a sea of unknown depths, could still see Sora's face as his friend and only anchor to life reached desperately for his hand.

Riku did nothing to fight the darkness, letting it slowly consume him. He wished so many times he could go back to that one moment and prevent himself from making the greatest mistake of his life.

Never in his most horrifying thoughts could Riku ever imagine what would happen afterwards. He was in over his head with the darkness and it nearly drowned him. He was used, manipulated, and eventually corrupted. His body was taken over by a man who claimed his name to be Ansem, he was made to fight Sora, and sealed inside a door surrounded by thousands of monsters that were never meant to be alive.

Riku didn't know until the end, but by choosing the darkness on that one fateful night, he forfeited his destiny over as keyblade master, giving the title to Sora.

Sora with the naive mind, a heart of blinding light, and a lion's courage was thrown head first into to a war.

Sora met Donald and Goofy…

Sora had fought

Sora had killed

He defeated Riku

Then the happy go lucky kid from a nowhere place called Destiny Islands had saved the entire universe.

Sora went through hell and back much like Riku had, only Sora had become the hero, the chosen one, when it was Riku who'd always dreamed about other worlds, when Sora hadn't cared one way or the other until Riku drilled the idea into his head and Kairi had came along, when it was Riku who'd opened the door in the first place, while Riku had lost everything and was locked away.

Still in the end, none of it mattered. Riku, Sora, and Kairi had found each other only to be separated once again. Ansem who Sora had spent so much time tracking down and tooth and nail fighting, turned out to be nothing more then a fake and apart of something much greater. There was a new threat with Organization XIII, the heartless were back, and there was a new enemy in the nobodies.

The worlds were starting to fall apart once more as they cried out for the keyblade master. Sora would have to pick up his keyblade and fight to save them all for the second time. There would be no rest or no choice for Sora. It was his fate after all.

While watching Sora lose a year of his life inside the pod, Riku found he had unwanted time to reflect. The silver haired teen had no one to blame for everything that happened but himself, could never forgive all the suffering and pain he put Sora through, did not care about his own life anymore as long as Sora was happy. The only thing he lived for now was to redeem himself, to help his friend at any cost. Riku would find and defeat Roxas. He would awaken Sora.

Riku stepped up to Sora's sleeping chamber, placing a hand on the smooth and clear but glinting surface. The first time Riku touched it, he expected it to feel like glass. Instead, it was soft, delicate, and slick, nearly like gel but completely dry. He could flex the material by simply running his hand down it, had tried several times to break the thin barrier so he could touch Sora's face but was never quite able to force his fingers through.

Riku leaned in closer, his face directly in front of Sora's. "I promise you I'll end it." He whispered softly. "No matter what happens one way or another it will end."

Riku leaned back struck with a sudden sense of devja vu. He'd spoken those same words to Kairi when she was comatose.

Riku always had a love hate relationship with Kairi, never really understanding the redhead. One day she just appeared out of nowhere and like a tidal wave came crashing into his and Sora's lives. From the first day, they met her it was like she'd always been there, never leaving their side or at least Sora's. Kairi laughed with them, played with them, she even competed with them. She was never any good, constantly falling behind when they raced or swam. It never seemed to faze her much but she was always trying to keep up, to be one of the boys. Riku wondered if maybe it was because she was afraid of being left behind.

Kairi came from the sea, a distant land, a different world even if she couldn't remember it. Riku loved her for that. She was living proof that there were other worlds out there, opening his eyes and giving him hope when there was none. Riku felt free around her since she reminded him that there was more then this tiny island.

Kairi was cheerful, intelligent, safe, cute, a princess of heart. She was Kairi. She was also a doubled edged sword.

Sora was instantly drawn to her from the first moment he laid eyes on her, the violet-eyed girl stealing his attention away, making Riku become second best. Soon it wasn't Riku sleeping over at Sora's house anymore. It was Kairi. It was Kairi who Sora whispered too, took to the secret place, and watched the sunset with.

Riku tolerated her only because she was important to Sora, never having the same relationship with her that Sora did. Riku was jealous so he competed with Sora for her affection if only to get Sora to notice him again. Even though Kairi never showed much of an interest in him, it had worked for a while.

Then came the heartless, the worlds, the danger, and the keyblades and nothing of what Riku had done to gain Sora's attention back mattered. After everything, it was still Kairi, Sora worried about, had held in his arms, and fought so hard for. It was because of Kairi, Sora almost died when he literally ripped out his own heart to save her life.

It was never Riku.

After the storm, Riku had gotten lucky, finding Kairi before Sora did, only she wasn't Kairi anymore. Her heart was gone, eyes wide and unblinking, and body stiff but warm. Riku soon found he could move her limbs anyway he wanted and she would stay that way, he even tried sitting her up a few times but she would always slump to the ground.

Riku had hung on to her because she would bring him Sora. Riku felt betrayed, completely alone. With Sora out saving the worlds with Donald and Goofy, Kairi's shell was the only thing he had left in a world that was quickly closing in around him. He'd often let Kairi lean against him, sometimes even holding her while her head rolled limply against his shoulder, running his hands through her short hair and telling her he would save her, that everything was going too be alright, that they didn't need Sora anymore. It was nice to hear the words even coming from his own mouth but he never quite believed them.

Then the last time Riku remembered seeing Kairi before he fought Sora, he ran a hand down her cheek and told her he was going to end it, no matter what happened it would end. For a split second, Riku could have sworn he felt her body tense and quickly looked into her glass like eyes but like always there was only the same vacant expression so he dismissed it.

When Kairi did bring him Sora, things did not go according to plan. After everything, it was Sora who saved Kairi, doing the one thing Riku couldn't, following his heart. Sora could smile brightly in a dying world where everyone else had given up hope long ago. Sora was determined, stronger, and faster. He was just simply better, even managing to save Riku from himself.

Then when Sora had sealed him behind Kingdom Hearts, Riku realized in that moment that Sora truly was the real keyblade master. He would never be able to compare, wanted his best friend's happiness even if it meant being with Kairi. "Take care of her." he said. It was the last time he'd spoken to Sora or while Sora was still able to hear him at least.

Sora hadn't gone back to Destiny Islands with Kairi and Riku doubted if Sora ever could. They'd both seen and been through too much. Instead, Sora had looked for him, ended up in Castle Oblivion, lost his memory, and wounded up sleeping in a pod for a year. It was so funny, Riku could cry.

The aqua-eyed teen walked away from the pod. His black robe a sharp contrast to the blinding room, trailed silently against the sleek ashen floor. Riku leaned against the wall opposite to Sora with his arms crossed, breathing deeply before he refocused his gaze back on his friend's face. Riku still had a few minutes before he needed to leave and wanted to spend them here.

There was the abrupt sound of a door sliding open and shutting. Riku looked over his shoulder and to the doorway to see Naminé. The blonde had her sketchbook that Riku never seemed to see her without, clutched tightly to her chest and a box of crayons.

"I'm sorry" she whispered. "I didn't know you would be in here."

Riku raised a silver eyebrow. "Where else would I be?"

Naminé looked uncertain. "Should I leave?"

"No, it's fine."

Naminé nodded as she mutely made her way across the room and toward the three sleeping chambers, smoothing her white dress and sitting down carefully in front of Sora. She laid her sketchbook out on her lap, picked up a brown crayon and began to draw.

Naminé reminded Riku of a washed out photograph, her skin pale, hair a dull shade of blonde, lips thin and colorless. She could have passed for a porcelain doll, appearing frail yet there was something oddly striking about her.

Naminé unnerved Riku and he wasn't even sure why but he honestly didn't even like being in the same room with her. Although of course, he would never admit it, maybe it had something to do with her abilities or how she was so distant but when he looked at her he always felt off, like something was crawling underneath his skin, and his thoughts for some reason always fled to Kairi. The two girls were completely different, still there was something similar about them and Naminé brought back the pain, the vacancy, the control, the need for power, the look of betrayal in Sora's eyes when he took the keyblade from him, Sora running to Kairi's side, shouting her name, yeah…Kairi was something he definitely preferred not to think about.

Riku felt somewhat guilty for feeling this way toward Naminé. The blonde had tried to do so much for him, possessing the power to help him in a way that no one else could. He would never forget the offer she made him. When she told him, she could erase the darkness in his heart at the price of his memory. Riku declined her offer and in the end, there was really only one choice.

He'd never allow anyone to be in control of his fate again, would make his own path, his own decisions, and fight the darkness himself, would take the road to dawn, helping Sora while doing it. Even so, a part of Riku however distant had to acknowledge her offer was tempting. Naminé could erase what Ansem had done so easily, make him forget the whole violent nightmare his life had become but then he would have also forgotten Sora.

That was something Riku was not willing to live with and with everything he was, he knew he made the right decision, didn't let himself think about the alternative, knew he couldn't afford to wonder on what could have been.

Still even after everything Naminé had done, the fact remained that she was the one who scrambled Sora's memories in the first place, she was the one who sealed him inside the pod. Minutes, Riku had made it to Sora only minutes after, running and shouting his friend's name, if maybe he'd just been a little quicker, a little sooner, things could have been different.

Riku knew it wasn't really Naminé's fault but he couldn't help but feel slightly bitter toward the blonde. She'd been practically forced to put Sora to sleep. It was needed to undo the damage she caused, but the whole process had caused everyone with ties to Sora to lose their memories of him as well, even Riku's hadn't gone unaffected. He could remember Sora at least mostly but there were still gaps and holes, some things more hazy then others. His memory wouldn't be completely restored until Sora was awakened and Naminé had made that choice. Sora had lost a year of his life, all of this had happened because Naminé willed it.

Riku continued to watch Naminé draw Sora, a bit uncomfortable that she was sitting so close to the burnet. Making himself more comfortable, he sat down, letting his back lean against the cold wall. "For a moment there I thought you came to be my conscience."

"I'm no one's conscience" Naminé said so quietly it was almost inaudible.

There was silence once again, which Riku was fine with, not expecting her to speak again, which was why he was so surprised when she suddenly looked up at him, gazing into his face as if she was trying to commit it to memory. Pastel blue eyes met sea green.

"You're not wearing your blindfold." She observed. "I hardly ever see you without it anymore."

Riku's hand automatically went to the blindfold that was currently tugged up just over his forehead, partially hidden by long silver bangs. "I actually wanted to see Sora's face before I left."

"Oh"

Naminé looked away, going back to her drawing but Riku could see her body visibly stiffen and her hand clench around the crayon.

"You don't agree with what DIZ and I are about to do." Riku stated

Naminé jerked her head up quickly and Riku was surprised when he saw anger on her face. Naminé always seemed so passive, acting emotionless around him. She was gentle even sympathetic but always emotionless.

"It's cruel Riku!"

"It's necessary" he countered.

Naminé shook her head. "No, it's not. Roxas needs to accept this on his own terms. It's not something you can force him into."

"There really isn't much of a choice" Riku said calmly. "I'm not just doing this for myself. In case you haven't noticed the worlds are in danger if the keyblade master isn't awakened the whole universe could perish."

"I know the danger but no one is thinking of Roxas. Roxas didn't ask to exist. He had little choice in the life he found himself in but he chose to fight for everything he was worth., chose to survive and I don't see how forcing him to sacrifice himself for the sake of another can lead to anything good."

Riku's eyes narrowed at this. "It's not a sacrifice."

"You're going to take away his consent, his will, and you're making the decision to take his life away. What would you call it then?"

"It's not a sacrifice!" Riku said again, voice cutting like a knife. "He's a nobody. You can't sacrifice something that was never supposed to be alive."

"You've been listening to much to DIZ." Naminé said sadly. "You should know that doesn't matter. Roxas has his own thoughts, his own dreams. He's still a person."

"He's dead inside!" Riku snapped back.

"No he's not he's-"

"He doesn't have a heart. He can't feel. All he knows is instinct and death." Riku continued ruthlessly. "He…he…" Riku trailed off as he focused on Naminé.

The blonde pulled her knees to her chest, hugging herself. "He's like me." She said distantly. "You mean he's like me."

Riku froze and fell silent. There was nothing he could say to that. He watched as Naminé uncurled from her hunched position, firmly gripping her crayon, and placing her sketchbook higher up on her knees. She once more began to draw, only it was different this time, her entire arm shaking as she made angry slashes at the paper.

"That's right." Naminé said, her voice cracking. "Naminé's just a nobody." She pressed the crayon harder to the paper, nearly ripping it. "Naminé can't feel. She can't think. She's just a broken tool."

The crayon snapped underneath her fingertips. Naminé tossed it aside and ripped the page out of the sketchbook before continuing in her half crazed voice. "Let's just lock her in a tower and throw away the key. Let's let the others play with her. Lets let Larxene play with her!"

Naminé mercilessly ripped the paper into tiny jagged pieces. "It doesn't matter if she's alone, if she's sad, it doesn't matter if she screams! Because Naminé's only a nobody. Naminé can't feel!" She violently threw the sketchbook at the wall, right by Riku's head.

Riku didn't try to move away, not even so much as flinching when the sharp edge of the sketchbook came dangerously close to the corner of his eye. However, it hit the wall harmlessly and there was complete silence as it fell to the ground with a lifeless thud. Riku stayed still for a minute as he listened to Naminé gasp for breath. Attentively, he picked the sketchbook up and walked over to her.

"I'm sorry," Riku said as he extended his arm out.

Naminé gently took the sketchbook from him and hugged it to her chest as if it were a long lost treasure.

"Thanks" She said, placing it back on her lap. She glanced up at Sora, took out a red crayon, and once again began to sketch the keyblade master as if nothing had ever happened.

Riku quickly took a couple of steps back, distancing himself from her. "Naminé, I don't really know what happened to you in the tower but I do know that something went on between you and Sora. Didn't he risk everything to help you get away from that place? After everything he did for you I thought you would approve of what I'm doing that you would want to help him at any cost."

Naminé's hand stilled on the crayon, raising her head, blonde hair cascading over her shoulders. "I do more then anything."

Riku gave her a skeptical look. "Then what's with the sudden concern about Roxas? You never mentioned him before. Did you know him while you were in the tower?"

Naminé shook her head. "No, he was never at the tower."

"Then I don't understand. How could you want to forsake Sora to help this thing that you don't even know?"

Naminé's eyes narrowed. "You're missing the point Riku."

"So, tell me."

Naminé tightly pressed her hands onto her sketchbook. "You can't say I don't want to help Sora. You don't know what happened!"

"Like I said. Tell me then."

Naminé took in a deep breath, quickly calming herself and looking thoughtful for a minute before she softly began to speak. "Marluxia said he was the one who found me but the first thing I remember is an all white room. It looked a lot like this one but it was smaller. I was locked inside and I was completely alone except for my sketchbook. My sketchbook was the second thing I ever remembered. It was lying beside me when I woke up. I don't know which of the organization gave it to me but I've always had it. The organization would only come to see me when they needed something. They'd force me to do things, otherwise I was locked inside my room."

Naminé shivered slightly, rubbing her bare arm before she continued. "Then when I thought I couldn't stand it any longer Sora came. I watched every step he took into the castle and against all odds, I saw him force his way to the top. He never gave up he kept trying to get to me to protect me. I can still see perfectly the moment I met him. He looked at me with blue eyes, and he smiled. He set me free."

Naminé clasped both her shoulders as she shut her eyes tight. "I owed him everything but I hurt him instead. I took away his memories and because of me, he's already lost so much. Don't tell me I don't want to help him. All of this is my fault. I only want to put right what I've done wrong!"

"It's not your fault." Riku said from a few feet away. "You only did what you had to, from what I know Marluxia threatened to kill you if you didn't comply."

"That won't change what I've done and Sora wasn't the only one I hurt. Your replica…"

"Yeah, don't remind me" Riku paused before he continued. "Look Naminé, I'm probably not the best one to tell you this, but I think you're being too hard on yourself. You helped Sora in the end right? You acted on your own. That's all that matters."

Naminé glanced up at Riku, looking unsure of herself. "I know…maybe, putting Sora to sleep wasn't my fault and he wanted me too since it was necessary to restore his memories and…even before that when we were together at the top of the tower…when Marluxia told me to break his heart, make him into his puppet, Sora told me to go ahead and do it."

"He told you to?" Riku said doubtfully.

"Yes, he didn't want to see Marluxia hurt me and he said it didn't matter if his heart was broken, he would still know me, still protect me, after everything… that was the only thing he cared about."

"I never knew that." Riku said with a slight shrug. When the silver haired teen spoke again there was the hint of a smile in his voice. "Sora always was to nice for his own good."

Naminé's eyes brightened as she nodded her head in obvious agreement, cheerful like expression then fading as quickly as it had came, her face turning serious. "I refused to do it of course and then things started to crash from there, but erasing Sora's memories in the first place wasn't just because of Marluxia. It was me too. A part of me, a part I don't like to think about wanted to erase his memories. In the end it was my decision and I chose to listen to Marluxia, Vexen, and the others."

"And what was the reason for that?"

Naminé's expression turned suddenly pained, looking for all the world like she didn't want to answer, placing her hands in her lap, she grasped the silky material of her dress before she quickly opened her mouth to reply. "I was jealous of Kairi! I hated the fact that Kairi had someone who cared about her so much when I had nothing. I just had my white room and my pictures. I wanted Sora to care about me like he cared about her. I took away his memories of her and replaced her image with my own. Only, it didn't really work out the way I wanted it too. I should have known Sora could never completely forget Kairi or that I could never completely replace her. I'm just her shadow. That's all I'll ever be."

Riku leaned forward a little as he lowered his head, silver hair instantly falling to cover his face. He fisted a hand in the material of his black robe right over his chest as his shoulders shook.

Naminé peered at him more then worried, trying to understand his reaction. Riku looked back up to her with a smile on his face and the blonde looked relived to see he'd only been laughing.

"You were jealous of Kairi." Riku stated somewhat breathlessly. "I never would have thought we would have so much in common."

Naminé tilted her head so it was nearly against her shoulder. A small snort escaped her nose and she smiled even if it was nothing more then a faint rise and fall of her lips

Riku looked at her, really looked at her as if he'd just seen her for the first time. It could have been a number of things, the way her shoulders were hunched forward, the position of her head, how her eyes stared into his, how her hair laid across her forehead, or that fleeting smile but in that instant everything about the blonde screamed Kairi.

"So" Riku asked before he could stop himself. "Whose nobody are you anyway?"

The just established easy atmosphere in the room once again turned tense. Naminé didn't answer, looking back to Sora and refocusing her attention back on her sketchbook and crayon, wrist making delicate movements as she settled for ignoring Riku and continuing to draw.

"That's right you don't know." Riku said, his voice neutral. "I forgot for a moment you're not like other nobodies, that you can't remember anything of your past life. Sorry I asked."

"I know." Naminé whispered.

"Then who?"

"You won't like the answer."

Riku didn't reply, feeling a sense of foreboding at Naminé's statement and he wondered if somewhere he already knew the answer. Riku wasn't the type to repeat a request and Naminé wasn't the type to ask him if he was sure he wanted to know. Riku's curiosity was peeked but he knew the blonde would tell him. All he had to do was wait it out, give Naminé a chance to collect herself.

Riku wasn't disappointed.

The blonde visibly swallowed and opened her mouth to speak, her voice far away. "Kairi." She said, "I'm Kairi's nobody."

Riku felt his stomach churn and a numb sensation flow through him as if an icy hand had reached into his chest, grabbed his heart, and yanked, only leaving him with a strange impulsive desire to see Kairi.

Riku was on Naminé in a split second, hand gripping her thin shoulder as he shook her roughly.

"Kairi!" He shouted into Naminé's face as if he could bring out the redhead through the blonde. Only Naminé wasn't Kairi. Instead of amethyst eyes he was met with cloudy blue, Naminé's skin was pale and not tanned from endless days spent out on the beach, her hair was a soft shade of blonde instead of vibrant red, and her face was all wrong.

"I'm not Kairi." Naminé said calmly. "Just like Roxas isn't Sora."

Riku's fingers dug into her shoulder, hard enough to bruise, clenching his eyes shut as his free hand formed into a fist. "This whole thing." He said, his voice broken and wavering. "Is my fault. Everything that's happened is because of me because of what I did…I…"

Riku jerked his head up when he felt Naminé's hand gently curl around his wrist. She looked at him with understanding eyes. "Don't blame mine or Roxas's existence on yourself Riku." She said softly. "It's not your fault.'

Riku loosened his grip, about to reply when the sound of a throat being cleared came from the doorway. Both Riku and Naminé turned their heads at the same time, seeing DIZ leaning against the doorframe.

"I hope I'm not interrupting something." DIZ said in his normal dry voice.

Riku pulled away from Naminé. "No" the silver haired teen said as he made his way over to the cloaked man. "I was just about to leave."

Riku turned back to face Naminé when he reached the doorway, still slightly uneasy leaving her alone with Sora.

As if reading his mind, Naminé also stood up. A black portal formed behind her and she stepped backwards into to it, letting it engulf her limbs. "I was just about to leave too."

Riku nodded, preparing to exit the white washed room when he heard Naminé at his back. "Good luck Riku."

Riku would have thanked her ordinarily but Naminé's voice was strained. There was a sense of danger in it, her words sounding final.

"I won't fail." Riku said, voice coming out harsher then he meant it to but Riku had felt a desperate need to say that, to contradict Naminé as much as to reassure himself.

Naminé did not reply. Once more, allowing herself to meet Riku's gaze, her eyes saying everything, shining in a strange mix of disbelief and hope. Then as quickly as the emotion came it was gone. Naminé stepped completely into the portal and vanished without a sound.

Riku felt an odd need to go after her although he wasn't sure why. It wasn't as if this was the first time Naminé had went through a portal, using them to travel almost constantly. Riku never knew or even cared where she went before, maybe it was because of her recently learned identity or because the plan was so close to being put into action. Naminé was a critical part of it after all.

DIZ saw the conflicting anxiety on Riku's face and the tenseness in his stance. "She'll be back." He said almost sympathetically. "She can't go far."

"Yeah, I know."

DIZ turned to leave and Riku followed the bandaged man through a dark hallway as they made their way to the control room.

"Did you know Naminé was Kairi's nobody?" Riku asked with a slight edge to his voice.

"Yes, of course."

"You never told me."

"You never asked."

Riku felt a surge of anger run through him, clenching his hand and feeling his fingernails dig into his palm, he tried his best to not let his anger show through his voice. "I had a right to know."

DIZ gave him an unimpressed look. "It never seemed important at the time."

Riku narrowed sea green eyes. "Like hell!"

DIZ sighed as they reached the control room. It would have been poorly lit if it wasn't for the rapidly blinking machinery. "This is not the time to discuss it Riku, we have bigger things to worry about."

The silver haired teen said nothing, silently agreeing, and letting himself lean against one of the many computer consuls. "What if Naminé tries to help Roxas?"

DIZ looked at the teen fully for the first time. "Why would she?"

"Just humor me." Riku said with a slight smirk.

"Then we remove her."

"Remove her how?"

"If Naminé were to help Roxas she would have to find a way into the program. We remove her from the program. It's that simple."

Riku nodded, satisfied with the answer. Then he felt a sudden piercing pain from behind his eyes, taking a sharp breath, Riku raised a hand to the bridge of his nose and tenderly began to rub.

"Are you alright?" DIZ asked with a hint of concern.

Riku put the blindfold back around his eyes and firmly retied it. The pain instantly began to fade. "Yeah, I'm fine. I think it was just from being in Sora's room to long with my eyes uncovered. I'm so used to being in constant darkness that when I'm in someplace bright like that it just hurts a bit afterwards."

DIZ gave Riku a hard yet regretful look. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"Positive, as I told Naminé I won't fail."

DIZ searched Riku's face. "It's not going to be a walk in the park to defeat Roxas you know, especially since you don't have control of the darkness anymore."

"I know."

"If this is going to work." DIZ continued. "You can't have any doubts. You have to be completely sure."

Riku slammed his hands down on the computer console. "I was pulled into darkness, I was used by Maleficent, I let Xehanort's heartless take control of my body, I was locked behind Kingdom Hearts, I battled Lexaeus and barely came out alive, I fought a replica of myself, and I survived when Zexion waged mental war on me. I think I can handle a single nobody!"

"I'm well aware of that Riku." DIZ said calmly. "But you're forgetting one crucial fact."

"And that would that be?"

"You were never alone. If I recall correctly, you had his majesty with you every step of the way."

All traces of anger left the silver haired teen at the indirect mention of King Mickey. Riku crossed his arms and breathed deeply. "I'm getting ahead of myself again aren't I?"

"Just a bit" DIZ mused.

Riku moved his head to the sound of DIZ's voice, until he gauged he was directly facing him, giving his best impression of a glare even if it went undetected through the blindfold.

"I do regret" DIZ said absently after a few moments of silence. "That his majesty would not approve of this."

Riku shrugged. "King Mickey knows me well enough to know he can't change my mind and besides that he knows this is necessary."

DIZ said nothing, turning his back to Riku and sitting down in his chair by the main computer, he started to press an intricate sequence of buttons that held little interest to Riku. "I have a lot of work to do." The bandaged man clarified.

Riku nodded and turned to leave.

"Riku" DIZ called without looking up from his computer, right before the silver haired teen reached the door. "Remember this is just not about waking your friend. It is about protecting all worlds. The entire fate of the universe is on your shoulders."

"The next time that you see me." Riku stated, "I'll have Roxas. Don't worry."

"And on the off chance something goes wrong?"

Riku once again turned to face DIZ. "It won't but if it does I'll just have to regain control of the darkness again, even if it means becoming Ansem. I don't care what happens to me. I come back with Roxas or I don't come back at all."

DIZ stroked his chin thoughtfully. "The keyblade master really means that much to you?"

There was a slight pause before Riku answered. "Yes."

DIZ nodded slowly and raised his head from the computer screen, looking pleased with the answer. "Good, I do believe you will be successful Riku… and then..."

DIZ trailed off and deeply swallowed. When he spoke next, his voice was a mixture of yearning and almost sorrow. "My revenge against Organization XIII will finally be underway."

"I'm not helping you with revenge." Riku snapped. "I'm not letting you turn Sora into some pawn."

"We've been over this." DIZ replied tiredly.

"And you never understand," Riku continued. "Revenge, it never solves anything. I'm going to revive Sora but that's as far as I'm going and when he awakens, I'm leaving with him. This time I'll fight by Sora's side and honestly I could care less if I ever see you or Naminé again."

With that, Riku harshly closed the door, leaving the lab, walking out into the cool night air. He briefly waited to see if DIZ would call him back but there was only silence. For a moment, Riku was struck with the juvenile urge to see what DIZ's reaction had been to his words. Although, it would be mainly pointless because of the blindfold.

It wasn't completely true what Riku had said. He and DIZ had been through to much together for Riku not to feel something and he knew DIZ understood that. The old man would not be phased by his comment, Riku having said worse before. They worked together out of convenience and twisted luck, yet DIZ was the closest Riku ever had to a father figure, but the silver haired teen had been angry and the bandaged man's plans for revenge were the last thing on his mind. Riku even felt a connection to Naminé, a small one but he and Naminé communicated. They hadn't really talked before until tonight, still Naminé was a familiar presence and sometimes Riku would go out of his way to bring her new crayons.

Riku shook the feelings off, clearing his mind. DIZ was right about one thing. He couldn't have any doubts about this, needing to be focused and in complete control.

Riku rapidly made his way to The World That Never Was, jaw tightening and gritting his teeth, a determined look passing over his features. "Just hang on a little longer Sora."


	2. Unexpected

Thank you to TheAkatsukiiscoming and ChibiFrubaGirl for reviewing. You guys made my day!

Notes: Just a warning that this chapter is going to be very morbid and have graphic violence. It's necessary for the plot though. Also sorry for changing the viewpoints around. I separated them with a page break but action scenes are hard to write at least for me anyway.

I'm going to try my best to update at least twice a month and the next chapter is short so is shouldn't be to long now. One more thing, I know I keep referring to COM but I have never actually played the game. I just kind of know the plot a bit, so if I get something wrong please let me know and I'll go back and change it.

Guess I should also say there is going to be spoilers throughout this whole fic. Yep…

Chapter 2: Unexpected

Axel made his way through the soaked and glistening city streets of The World That Never Was, keeping against the high dark walls and to the shadows. It had been raining heavily for the last hour and the cold water was starting to weigh down Axel's black robe, making it very difficult to move in and somehow had even gotten into the redhead's nearly calf high boots, making his legs start to feel abnormally heavy and his toes go numb. Axel shivered slightly, pulling his cloak closer to himself and then proceeded to mentally curse Xemnas for making them wear these irritating clothes.

Axel wondered again, why exactly he was trailing Roxas. They were supposed to be friends in every sense of the word, only nobodies didn't have friends. Something as meaningful as trust and companionship couldn't exist without a heart but the only thing Axel found himself thinking about was a spiky blonde haired boy.

Roxas seemed to grasp the nobodies' concept of friendship much better then Axel did. The blonde was indifferent and cold, sometimes vaguely receptive toward Axel but the moments were far and few in between. Roxas never even bothered to tell Axel so much as goodbye before he left the organization, casting the redhead aside as if he meant nothing. The events that took place only a few hours ago kept repeating in Axel's mind.

_The sky that was always dusky ebony in their world, rolled with repressed thunder. Axel had been leaning against a charcoal gray stone wall with his arms tightly crossed. Then Roxas had came, walking down the city street and passing Axel without a word. _

"_Your mind is made up." Axel said at Roxas's back._

_Roxas stopped but did not turn around. "Why did the Keyblade choose me? I have to know."_

"_You can't turn on the Organization!" Axel nearly shouted. When he spoke, again his voice hitched, coming out faintly desperate. "You get on their bad side and they'll destroy you!"_

"_No one would miss me. " Roxas said after a short pause, proceeding to walk away without even a glance back._

_Axel watched as the closest thing he ever had to a friend left him, reaching out a hand, he longed to go after Roxas even if it was just to shake some sense back into the blonde's head. Instead, Axel let himself slump defeated against the unyielding wall. "That's not true... I would." He said quietly. Roxas was to far away at that point. Axel doubted if the blonde even heard him._

That had been all there was to Roxas's explanation for leaving Organization XIII, to search for answers. He didn't even have a plan or anywhere to start looking, just simply left, hardly seeming to care that he turned traitor, barely shrugging one shoulder in response.

The first time Axel saw Roxas he didn't think much of him. The blonde was small and had the body of a fifteen year old, looked scrawny, almost weak compared to the other organization members. Axel underestimated him and would never make that mistake again. Roxas was a raising prodigy, resilient, intensely brutal, quickly becoming Xemnas's favorite, different in that he couldn't remember his past life, having no one just like Axel and somehow the two of them managed to form an awkward friendship.

Organization XIII needed Roxas. Xemnas realized this. Roxas was invaluable, being the other of the keyblade master and having the ability to wield the legendary keyblades himself, making the possibilities endless. Axel had some vague ideas on what Xemnas really wanted and he knew the organization's white haired leader would not let Roxas go so easily, hunting him down until he was dragged back or ended up dead.

Without fail the organization members would do, Xemnas's bidding even if it meant trying to take back Roxas at the cost of their own lives. After the loss of Marluxia, Larxene, Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion, nearly half of them, in that dammed castle, the others would be looking for someone to blame and except for possibly Demyx, they'd jump at the chance to take out their frustration and wrath on the newly turned traitor, be out for his blood.

Even Axel who helped with the destruction of the others by playing double agent to Sora, had to admit he felt something over the death of Larxene. Axel wasn't quite sure what it was and it was an abstract sensation more then any feeling, but it was still something. He and the only female member of the organization, at one point had maybe shared something akin to a common bond. With everything that had happened, it was becoming easier and easier for Axel to see the organization was starting to fall apart.

Roxas did not have a further need for Organization XIII or so Axel assumed. If Roxas wanted information, the organization would hinder him rather then help him. It was the same thing with Axel, the blonde's feelings for him bordering on the unsettled need for support and mere tolerance. Roxas only wanted to disappear as if he never laid eyes on the organization and now that he actually had removed himself from the picture, he could probably care less about what happened to the chakram user or if they ever saw each other again. That aspect hurt Axel more then he would like to admit.

The organization's main goal was to gain hearts, it was what they all dreamed, lived, and strived for. Axel wondered if maybe this reason was a bit of a scapegoat on Xemnas's part, their leader being indifferent, often lost in his own dream world but at the same time as frigid as ice. He'd done and was capable of horrific things, needed something to rationalize himself with and keep his followers.

Roxas on the other hand was completely unconcerned about a heart, never having the desire for one. It was ironic really that out of all the organization Roxas stood the closest chance to ever obtaining one. The blonde's heart or at least a part of it was still out there somewhere, warm and throbbing inside of Sora. Roxas didn't realize how lucky he was in that his other was still alive. That was the only thing Axel would ever allow himself to be jealous of Roxas for.

Roxas had a chance at life where none of the other organization did. Even if the keyblade wielding nobody didn't care and was more then willing to throw it all away. One fact remained as long as his other continued to breath, Roxas would live. Roxas had hope. When all else failed Roxas would still have Sora.

It took only a few minutes after Roxas left for Axel to realize how alone he would be without the blonde and hastily decided he was going to go after him. He would not abandon the one thing in his life that was worth hanging onto, his friend, the closest thing he had to a heart.

Axel didn't know exactly what he would do or even say once he caught up with Roxas and he seriously doubted he could convince the blonde to go back to the organization with him, although he was willing to try. Axel wanted badly to believe that this whole thing was just a stage Roxas was going through. The blonde would see his juvenile act of rebellion for what it was and follow Axel back with no questions asked.

Axel rolled his eyes at his own thoughts. _Yeah… right… _

Really, the goals of the organization meant little to Axel. He had to admit he was curious about the whole obtaining a heart thing, wondering what would change if he had a heart, if anything. He'd survived all this time without one and often found himself thinking if he even needed one or wanted one but even though he didn't care, following his friend was still like suicide, he was risking everything. Still there was no regret, wherever Roxas led him, Axel knew at least he wouldn't regret it.

Axel would stay with Roxas for as long as he was able, even if Roxas didn't want him there, even if Roxas did not share Axel's desire for friendship. The chakram user would be by the blonde's side, helping him in anyway he could.

He continued to walk through the shinning streets and hard sheets of rain. "You better appreciate this." Axel muttered, knowing of course Roxas wouldn't but it still felt good to say.

The sudden low chirping of heartless made Axel jerk his head forward. The street just before him looked to be alive as it swarmed with Neoshadows as they crawled over each other, moving together, with hundreds of yellow eyes glowing brightly against the sheer black of the night.

Axel could only think of one reason why so many heartless would appear so randomly and why they would all be heading in the same direction. The keyblade, Axel allowed his face to break out into a grin.

Still out of sight, Axel followed the shadows at a distance. Where there was the keyblade, there was always "Roxas!"

0o0o0o0

Riku didn't know what to expect from The World That Never Was but it wasn't this. As soon as he entered the world, he felt the cold air sink into his skin and run up and down his spine.

Riku felt highly on edge, feeling an unexpected and overwhelming desire to turn back, his hands itching for the security of a weapon he did not have. The acute danger he was about to face, finally hitting home. Riku was in the shadowy world of Organization XIII anything was possible out here. There would be no one to hear him if he cried out or on one to cover for him if he fell. He was completely alone.

He could hear a voice in his head, screaming at him to turn around before it was too late.

Riku placed a gloved hand on a rough nearby wall, hunching over slightly, shoulders shaking as he breathed deeply, swallowing back the feeling of nausea, stilling the all consuming impulse to flee.

Forcing himself to straighten up, he stepped forward. He made a promise not to leave without Roxas and he intended to keep it. He would just find the blonde nobody as fast as capably possible and then get as far away as he could from this hellhole of a world.

_This is for Sora _he reminded himself. He could hang on, he could do this for Sora.

Heavy rain fell onto the world's rigid city streets from a sky that was featureless and vacant, except for the obscured dark pink outline of a large heart shaped moon. Puddles formed on a ground of twisting concrete, reflecting bright neon lights. The city looked completely gray with a few shades of murky black. Even though, Riku had never been here before he could tell the city had not seen daylight in a long time. The moment he entered it, he could feel instantly with every thread of his soul that it was stuck in a forever state of malicious night.

Riku was surrounded in a thin mist as his heavy leather cloak repelled the raindrops, silver strands of hair sticking to his forehead. He reached up a hand, brushing them aside, letting his fingers trail along the edge of his blindfold, the water weighing it down and quickly making it a hindrance. Pulling it up slightly so he could see better, cold rain instantly met and stung his eyes. Blinking rapidly, he pulled the thick hood of his cloak over his head.

Riku had no idea on where to start looking for Roxas. The world of Organization XIII was hostile, deserted, and he looked to be the only hint of life there was, merely a lone dark figure in an already dead world.

The World That Never Was consisted of a maze of obscure and winding paths with over looming concrete buildings that stretched out to the almost non-existent sky. Riku felt closed in and small in comparison. He decided on a random street, continuing to walk unwaveringly forward.

Riku noticed the buildings had no doors as he made his way further down his chosen path, suppressing the tremor that ran through his body, wondering what happened to this world. _What had lived in it before and how did it become like this._ He let his thoughts stray to the endless possibilities before, quickly deciding he didn't want to know.

The buildings were lit up with numerous flashy street signs. Riku could hear the continuous low buzzing of them in his ears. The green, white, pink, and red gleaming letters that read 'Bar' and 'Inn' and the dim glow of the heart shaped moon were the only traces of light.

Riku drowned out the sound as DIZ entered his mind. The old man would be warm, safe, and dry, sitting in his cushioned chair in front of his computer screens. Riku felt a bit resentful at being made to carry out the dirty work but knew he was the only one who had any chance of bringing back Roxas.

Howling wind ghosted along Riku's chilled body, making his skin crawl. He had the distinct sensation of being followed, turning his head around, Riku saw nothing, only the same leering street. The silver haired teen was never one to ignore his instincts. They were a large part of why he survived so long but Riku knew how nervous he was and he figured it was his mind playing tricks on him.

He needed to focus on something else before he drove himself insane, lightly closing his eyes, he imagined the only thing that could get him through this. His light, Sora. In spite of everything, a smile came to his lips as he imagined blue eyes, spiky brown hair, and a cheerful grin. If everything played out right, they would be reunited soon. "Stay with me Sora." He mouthed soundlessly.

Riku didn't know how long he walked for or how long he thought of the keyblade master but when he opened his eyes, he found himself in a large plaza that seemed to be the center of all the winding roads, the open space a huge relief compared to being surrounded by the solid forms of buildings.

He squinted, looking forward, to see a colossal skyscraper. He could hardly find the point to where it stopped, as it appeared virtually never-ending, making the other buildings seem insignificant in contrast. There was something recognizable about the skyscraper that made him want to turn away, like he'd seen it before in a dream or fractured memory. DIZ unsuccessfully had tried to map out this world, making charts and outlines. Riku was sure the old man must have mentioned a skyscraper before and for the first time he wished he paid better attention. The tower was haunting but Riku could feel its importance and trying hard to remember a single word formed in his mind, 'memory' although he wasn't sure if it was because of something DIZ said or for a darker reason but somehow Riku knew this was Memory Skyscraper.

It was adorned with several large, blank, and broken T.V. screens on colorless metal frames, that maybe once long ago had been used for advertising and illuminated in front with several soft hued blue, pink, and orange flickering lights. There were bleak windows that shone a brilliant but unnatural yellow and large sheets of dusty glass that ran up and down the skyscraper's entire frame. At the very top, Riku could just barely make out a black and yellow ledge that branched out like a spider's web. If he could get up there he would have a whole view of the city. He felt immensely better at last having a goal in sight, a place to start on what was beginning to seem like a futile search.

Riku walked up pealing off white steps that led to the platform of Memory Skyscraper's entrance, relived to see that the massive tower actually had a door. He wrapped his hand around the carved brass handle, pulling, feeling the door give way but not opening. He tried again, straining himself, pulling harder, this time making it fly outward with a rusty creak.

The aqua-eyed teen barely held back a cough as he breathed in a thick layer of dust. The inside was nothing impressive, brightly lit with yellow light, so intense it burned his eyes even through the blindfold. He could see nothing except for many curving staircases, the tower looking completely barren and untouched, the floor spotted marble with a thin layer of grime, shimmering with yellow light. He didn't even want to think about how the lights still worked.

He wanted back out, the tower giving off a supernatural aura, making him feel even more trapped in here then he did outside. He took a sharp breath, strengthening his resolve, knowing he would have to make it to the top before he could leave this world behind. He would have to find Roxas, choosing a staircase, Riku began the tedious climb to the top.

0o0o0o0

Roxas stepped through a puddle, sending it rippling as he made his way through The World That Never Was. A single raindrop was able to get beyond the hood of Roxas's stiff cloak, striking his cheek and running down to the corner of his mouth in a long iridescent trial. Roxas continued on through a haphazard curving street and ignored it.

The rain was becoming irritating but it was nothing compared to the feeling of anxiety that flowed through the young nobodies' veins. He'd left the organization and broken all the rules, one time allies would now hunt him down. None of it mattered to Roxas. No one would stop him on his search for the truth.

For the first time in his short life, Roxas was choosing his own road, walking his own path. He felt alive, would rather slaughter anyone who stood in his way then have this feeling taken from him. If the organization wanted to chase after him. Let them, he welcomed it.

Roxas wanted a goal, needed something to strive for, would never get that with the organization. Xemnas had given him vague answers but they weren't nearly enough to satisfy him and Roxas only ended up with more questions. All Roxas really knew was that he was a nobody, he didn't have a heart, and he was the other of the mythical and famous keyblade master.

The blonde didn't comprehend exactly why he could wield the keyblades or why he was noticeably more different from the other Organization XIII members. He badly wanted to know why the keyblade had chosen him, if he had a destiny or fate. He desired to understand how he was born, how he came to be in the first place. Why Xemnas struggled death deafeningly to complete Kingdom Heart, when Roxas doubted it was even possible, there had to be something more to Xemnas's goal, something deeper and Roxas no longer wanted to be apart of it.

Roxas wasn't even sure if his questions had answers. Still anything was better then remaining with the organization. He knew there had to be more out there then a meaningless existence he couldn't even call a life. When everything came down to it, Roxas mainly just realized he wanted to see his other.

He had planned on leaving the organization for weeks, slipping away as if he'd never been there and that would be the end of it. He hadn't counted on one thing, Axel, hadn't meant to confront the redhead before he left. It just kind of happened. Roxas didn't think his so-called friend would relate any information about his departure to the rest of the organization but Roxas couldn't be to careful, never really one to believe in trust. Then there was always the possibility Axel would be idiotic enough to chase after him. Roxas wouldn't put it past him.

Roxas was interrupted from his thoughts by a soft cooing, staring intently at the city's dark surroundings, he found himself in an open plaza with hundreds of Neoshadows springing up from the pavement, stumbling over each other tying to get closer to him, soft cooing growing to a steady hum and Roxas could hear the wet squish of tiny feet on the ground.

Roxas summoned the keyblades, preparing for the fight that would follow. The raven colored and almost sinister form of Oblivion appeared in one hand while the crystal and angelic form of Oathkeeper appeared in the other. The keyblades went together nicely and gleamed brightly in the rain, feeling reassured by the familiar weight, Roxas held them defensively out to his sides.

The heartless continued to come, moving sluggishly as they rose from dark puddles. It was as if there was no end to them and soon their deformed bodies and bulging yellow eyes were all Roxas could see. He wondered briefly, why they always targeted him, knowing it had something to do with the keyblades. The heartless were attracted to the keyblade's power and so they were attracted to him, would follow him to the end of the earth, reacting on blind instinct on their search for a heart, and doing anything to get a hold of one even voluntary walk to their own deaths. It was really to bad the heartless didn't realize they were completely wasting their effort on him. He was a nobody for a reason.

There was no warning before the shadows leapt at him, attacking with outstretched claws, but they never had a chance to descend, Roxas meeting them evenly with duel keyblades, sharp metal tearing easily through inky bodies. With only one stroke of a blade, the Neoshadows burst like liquid smoke.

They kept coming and Roxas continued to slay them, moving in a deadly yet elegant dance of spins and kicks as he sliced and cut through anything that came in his path. Roxas was a blur of motion, making Oblivion and Oathkeeper look nearly invisible. Then the blonde felt a warm static like surge of purple light surround the keyblades and repel the heartless even further but it only lasted a few seconds before it diminished and left Roxas breathless.

For every heartless Roxas killed more took its place and he soon found himself in over his head. He was right in the thick of the heartless, so many Roxas barely had room to move. Feeling the strain in his muscles as they burned from overexertion, he gasped in an urgent need to force air back into his lungs. He needed to find a way out of this. All he had to do was get up higher somewhere, off the street.

Roxas risked a glance over his shoulder to see an overly tall skyscraper framed by gleaming lights. The young nobody smirked to himself _perfect_.

He gathered his energy, jumping high into the air. They leapt after him and he extended his arms out, holding Oblivion and Oathkeeper tightly in each hand, spinning in the air as if he were a pinwheel. The Neoshadows didn't stand a chance as Roxas severed their heads from their shoulders with fatal accuracy, killing more heartless as he rose higher into the air, using them at his advantage to gain more leverage.

Roxas felt the pull of gravity starting to take effect, quickly tossing Oathkeeper high into the air, the keyblade spun upward in a blazing white circle, smashing into the faces of several unprepared heartless before it stopped in mid air, plunging back down to earth. Roxas caught it effortlessly at the exact same moment he landed heavily back on the street, using the momentum from his landing, Roxas flipped forward and with a few twists, he found himself right outside the swarm. He ran the short distance toward the massive tower, knowing without looking back that the shadows would be right at his heels.

Upon reaching the skyscraper, Roxas allowed his gaze to travel up its frame until he was looking at the very top, eyes widening in shock and surprise when he saw a silver haired and blindfolded teen in clothes almost identical to his own standing on the uppermost ledge. Roxas couldn't think of any reason why another person would be out here. It was very difficult to see but Roxas could tell the teen wasn't anyone he knew Roxas seriously doubted the organization was trying to enroll new members.

He was drawn back to the issue at hand by a familiar high pitched chirp, feeling a set of a shadow's dark claws penetrate his leather boot and dig into the skin of his ankle, Roxas pushed his thoughts away before he brought the hilt of a keyblade down onto the shadow's head. Now was not the time to think about it.

0o0o0o0

Riku stepped out onto the ledge, never so grateful to be outside the interior of the suffocating tower. He pushed his hood back, wanting to feel the air on his face, freezing rain lashing at his skin as he breathed in the icy air, feeling it burn in his chest, chilling him even further but the feeling was comforting, made him feel alive, and anything was better then being back inside Memory Skyscraper.

Riku had been right he could easily see the entire city from this high up, tops of buildings and blinking lights stretched out infinitely before him. Feeling excitement vibrate in his every nerve at having reached his goal, Riku outstretched his arms, letting his head fall backwards, harsh wind sending his hair whipping into his face.

Riku heard a sudden chime and the swish of metal cutting through air, stepping just to the edge of the platform and looking down, a sea of heartless greeted him, the ground seeming to be made of black bodies and glittering yellow eyes. Riku was struck by a wave of confusion, not understanding what they were all doing down there. For that many shadows to be all present at once there had to be something that they had their attention focused on.

Then Riku saw it. Right in the center of the mass, was the glint of a keyblade. His heart lurched into his throat.

_It couldn't be could it?_

Riku narrowed his eyes and focused hard. Through his blindfold, he could just make out the unmistakable forms of Oblivion and Oathkeeper as they pulsed with an intense purple energy.

_It was… it was the legendary keyblades… but how?_

A single figure, was handling the keyblades almost effortlessly, destroying the heartless one after another in a series of graceful and well-practiced attacks.

I_t had to be…it was Roxas. Riku had done it. He found his target._

Riku felt his heart continue to speed up, a rush of sheer thrill running through his blood. His destiny was in sight. All he had to do was take Roxas down, drag him back to the lab, and he could awaken Sora.

He watched as Roxas continued to massacre the heartless. Then without warning, the young nobody flipped away from the oppressive mob and ran toward the skyscraper. Roxas glanced up, directly at Riku and for a moment, they looked at each other.

Riku allowed a smile to form on his lips, having a feeling he just won the lottery.

0o0o0o0

Roxas put all his concentration into picking up speed, making a running leap for the side of the skyscraper but falling slightly short, his foot hitting the concrete base. He jumped again, forcing himself higher, until he was able to anchor himself to the tower's side, both of his feet firmly coming into contact with steel and thick glass. Then in a close to impossible feat Roxas proceeded to run directly up the side of the building.

Roxas held Oblivion and Oathkeeper out, letting them drag against the tower's frame, orange sparks coming from the keyblade's tips with a grinding sound of metal on metal. The heartless were not put off and perused him, their undersized and stubby limbs sticking easily to the side of the skyscraper. Roxas quickly found he was encircled on every side once again.

He crossed the two keyblades in front of him and keeping his balance on the side of the tower, he slashed fiercely outwards, slicing through a multitude of heartless, scissoring and forcing his way to the top.

It did little good. The shadows were relentless and Roxas was rapidly running out of stamina, could feel himself begin to falter, a very dangerous thing for being so high up. In a last ditch effort to take out as many heartless as he could, Roxas threw Oblivion into the air. The dark weapon flew to the top of the tower in an upward spiral, taking out several more shadows along the way.

0o0o0o0

Riku saw Oblivion sail toward him and braced himself for what he was about to do. Clenching his gloved hands together, Riku took a few steps back from the edge of the platform, biting down hard on his lip and using the slight pain to help him focus, he ran the few feet to ledge and dived off.

Riku was falling fast and head first, reaching out a hand, he felt his fingers come into contact with Oblivion, grasping the handle of the keyblade in a fight fist, he snatched it from the air, all the while the pavement was quickly coming up to meet him.

0o0o0o0

Roxas was confused when Oblivion failed to return to his outstretched hand. He hadn't heard the keyblade hit anything and he would have known if it had fallen back down. Roxas looked up, seeing the cloaked other plummeting to the ground, falling close and adjacent to him, protectively gripping Oblivion. For a second it was virtually like time stood still as they passed each other, even the rain seemed to stop. Roxas was at last able to look into his face. The eyes were covered and it was a brief glimpse but Roxas was unexpectedly overcome with a sickening sense of familiarity, almost as if he should know him.

Roxas made no attempt to stop the blindfolded teen's falling, if he wanted to plunge to his death, it held little concern to Roxas, but out of mild curiosity Roxas continued to watch from the corner of his eye. The blonde was more then stunned and faintly amazed when the stranger twisted out of his lethal fall at the last possible second, landing efficiently on his feet without even stumbling to what should have been a mound of splintered bones and splattered blood.

Reaching his limit, Roxas let himself fall from the side of the building. Not being as risk taking, he dropped to a couple of platforms on the way down. They broke his fall somewhat and he landed soundly on the pavement in much the same way the other had. Roxas stood next to him, fighting to catch his breath, their shoulders practically touching.

Hundreds of heartless encircled them and Roxas found they were quickly being coerced to move back into the center of the mass. Somehow, the two of them ended up back to back. Roxas held Oathkeeper ready and in position while the silver haired teen did the same with Oblivion.

Roxas wasn't even sure how this outsider was able to use a keyblade. As far as Roxas knew, he was the only one who could wield them, well… he and the all so glorious keyblade master he kept hearing about. Whoever this was there was more to him then at first glance. Roxas wondered if maybe he was the fist step in his desperately wanted answers.

"Who are you?" Roxas asked, his voice partially drowned out from the rain, sounding labored.

"None of your concern" The reply was equally breathless.

Roxas didn't question him further, focusing his attention fully on the heartless and waiting for the inevitable attack. Roxas would make him talk after the battle was finished. He could be patient until then.

"Only one of us is going to walk away from here." Roxas heard him say, taking a short pause before he continued. "After we finish these guys off you're coming with me."

Roxas smirked. His voice hardened. "Well see about that."

There wasn't anytime for the conversation to progress. It was in that moment the Neoshadows chose to attack.

The shadows moved in their unique dance, as they leapt at the two of them with razor sharp claws. Roxas clutched Oathkeeper firmly, slaying anything that was foolish enough to get in his way. Making quick work of the heartless, he chanced a brief glimpse over his shoulder to see, his counterpart handling the keyblade expertly with well-polished strikes that were nearly impossibly fast.

Roxas had to admit the help was very convenient. The distressed situation he had found himself in earlier now seemed fluently simple. The thrill of battle didn't last long as the whole horde of Neoshadows were virtually and instantly slaughtered between the two of them.

The atmosphere turned even more serious and deadly as Roxas and the blindfolded teen turned to face each other, the two of them breathing hard, having endless small nicks and scratches. Roxas kept his eyes glued to his face as they circled each other, both trying to gauge each other's strength and to see who would make the first move, as if they were switching off in the roles of predator and prey. Roxas had no doubt in his mind that he would win this but he still felt the sensation of anxiety well in his chest, knowing this would be a good fight.

It was a mutual decision as they both ran at each other, keyblades clashing heavily together with a loud whine of scrapping metal, the stranger lashing at him with attacks that were swift and severely accurate. Between the dense rain and the events of the night, Roxas soon found himself having difficulty making out the series of strikes. The silver haired teen's technique was elegant and strictly flawless, nearly to the point of surpassing the blonde's own, the fight dangerously and quickly going far beyond Roxas's expectations.

Roxas focused on blocking, continuing to watch his enemy closely, waiting for a loss of concentration or a stumble, anything at all. It would just take one mistake, one break in the perfect technique for Roxas to gain the upper hand. There was no question the outsider was skilled but no one could hold out forever and soon with a sense of rising desperation the other teen seemed to give up on his string of attacks, lashing out at Roxas's face.

The change in tactic was all Roxas needed, dodging as he simultaneously thrust upward with his keyblade, aiming to sink Oathkeeper right under his ribcage. The outsider evaded the near fatal blow but it was just barely, and he was forced to jump back, his body jarring awkwardly. Not wasting any time Roxas lashed out again, targeting the other's shoulders in an attempt to force him down onto the pavement.

Roxas was surprised when the blindfolded teen snapped out of the disorientation, ducking away from the strike at the last conceivable second but not being able to avoid it completely. Roxas could feel Oathkeeper tear into his dark robe and skit smoothly across the flesh of his shoulder.

The stranger flipped backwards, the two of them finding themselves distanced from one another by a few feet, both winded, his enemy clutching a bloody and seeping gash on his shoulder. Roxas was beginning to feel light headed, wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up, they needed to end this now.

As if echoing his thoughts, the silver haired teen fixed his grip tightly back on Oblivion and they rushed at each other for the second time. Once again, their powerful keyblades collided. After everything, it came down to pure force, using every ounce of strength they had left to push against the other, struggling to gain the advantage.

Roxas felt his feet sliding backwards on the slick street, his back coming into contact with a hard wall as the other slammed him harshly into it, his neck making a painful popping noise and his breath rushing out of him on impact. The taller frame of the blindfolded teen, pressing him further into the rocky surface, keyblades still locked. Roxas felt his muscles scream in protest and an intense burn in his right wrist but he did not relent his death grip on Oathkeeper, looking into the outsider's face, he caught the smug grin, right before his wrist unnaturally bent backwards and snapped under the heavy pressure of the keyblade.

Roxas was momentarily stunned with the sensation of bones breaking through skin. His vision blurred, overcome with white-hot pain, his arm dropping uselessly to his side, a warm gush of blood flowing from his wrist, dripping down his fingertips, but he did not allow even so much as a wince to cross his features. As a last option, Roxas tried to use his left arm to shield himself and take up the slack, preparing for the other's next blow but he wasn't nearly fast enough and instead of aiming another attack at Roxas with his keyblade, the blindfolded teen kneed the blonde viciously in the stomach.

Roxas hunched over gagging on his own blood, not having time to regain himself before he saw the glint of Oblivion enter his vision, the silver haired teen bringing the hilt of the dark keyblade down onto Roxas's face, his jaw cracking as his head was jerked callously to the side.

Roxas felt himself falling onto the rain soaked street of the city before everything went black.

0o0o0o0

Riku had won. He'd done it. Everything he worked so hard for he'd finally accomplished. He could reawaken his best friend. With Sora by his side, Riku could escape his hellish life. It didn't matter what happened as long as Sora was with him.

The adrenaline rush the battle with Roxas had given him, was quickly wearing off, leaving Riku feeling shaky and completely drained. His robe was ripped in various places and he was bloody. Cold rain was hitting the open laceration on his shoulder, making it numb but also sting badly. Riku ignored it, to overcome with emotion to focus on much of anything at all.

He could never remember feeling so blissful. After a year of separation, he was finally going to be reunited with Sora. In spite of everything that had happened up to this point, Riku was consumed by the joyous feeling, almost having half a mind to scream out his victory to the pouring rain but quickly stilled the desire and settled for a smile instead.

He let Oblivion drop from his hands, not caring for the moment where the dark keyblade ended up and knowing Oathkeeper had to be sprawled out on the street somewhere close by. As soon as Riku was out of this world, he'd be able to reestablish control of Way to the Dawn, being able to summon his own keyblade was something he was definitely looking forward to.

He walked over to Roxas, kneeling down beside him, having the sudden urge to see the nobody's face, wondering if Roxas resembled Sora in anyway.

Riku peeled the hood back and was met with a pale and almost too young looking face. Roxas had tarnished golden blonde hair that spiked up defiantly to one side, his lips an even paler shade of coral. The nobody's features looked almost delicate. Roxas was breathing softly and his eyes were gently closed, as if he were simply sleeping. Riku wanted to see the color of his eyes and debated with pulling an eyelid back but quickly decided against it.

The blonde's face looked unscathed except for a small gash over his eye and a thin trail of blood that was running from his temple and down his cheek. Riku was glad for this. He hadn't meant to be overly cruel, only wanting to do enough damage to allow himself the win.

Riku could see a resemblance to Sora if he concentrated but there were many small differences. Roxas's features were unique. It was almost the same thing when he tried to see Kairi through Naminé, he just couldn't.

He took a hold of Roxas's shoulders, pulling him into a sitting position so he was up off the wet concrete. Securely gripping the nobody's right forearm, Riku swung it over his shoulders, careful to avoid the blood drenched mess of the blonde's broken wrist, placing his other arm around Roxas's waist, Riku rose with him, taking the full brunt of his weight, Roxas's head boneless and rolling against his shoulder

Riku realized just how tired he was when the effort made him gasp for air. Roxas was not surprisingly light and the top of his head didn't even come up to Riku's chin. Even so Riku would have to take the blonde back like this, much too worn out and in too much pain to even attempt carrying him.

Riku shifted Roxas in his arms so the nobody wasn't irritating the wound of his shoulder, focusing his last remaining energy on forming a portal, he scarcely had time to move his hand before he was interrupted with the whine and rush of metal cutting through air, hurtling towards him. The past year of living virtually blind had heightened Riku's other senses, and he was able to hear the object at once, something he could tell that was dangerous and sharp.

He bent his head backwards, instinctively starting the motions of a back flip, attempting to evade, almost making it, but he was exhausted from his brutal fight and he hadn't counted on Roxas's weight, the blonde's arm across his shoulders enough to pull him down.

Riku felt a viciously sharp and jagged edge tear into his lower back. The thing that struck him was smooth, cold, and solid. With out difficulty it dug and cut through his cloak and the skin and muscles of his torso, knocking him forward, making him inadvertently let go of Roxas.

Riku caught himself, even while his body started to intensely convulse, pure agony flaring in his every nerve, making him feel as if he was being burned alive. Blood rushed into his throat and he choked on the metallic taste, as it erupted from his mouth, splattered to the ground. Bright red ran down the corners of his lips, dripped from his chin, streaking his face.

Riku forced himself to stay up right on unsteady and trembling legs. He was in shock, everything happening in less then the blink of an eye, tried to get his mind around the hazy feeling of extreme pain, to focus, to get himself through this.

He looked down at himself, seeing a white point coming out from his stomach, reaching down to touch it, he bit back a scream as black spots threatened to cloud his vision, as his spine felt like it was being snapped in half, his hands coming away shaking with his own blood, pooling and glimmering on his black leather gloves. Whatever the thing was, it was lodged inside of him. He couldn't concentrated like this, he couldn't do anything, much less attempt the portal again. Riku had no choice. He would have to pull it out.

He limped a couple of steps forward and practically collapsed onto the same wall he had forced Roxas against, putting an elbow against it to brace himself, he brought the sleeve of his cloak up to his lips and pushing the material into his mouth, he bit down hard, letting his other arm travel behind his back. The object felt like a metal disk surrounded by large pointed spikes, his fingers trailing down a spike until his hand curled firmly around the object's sharp edge, glove doing little to protect him from the bite of the metal. Riku shut his eyes tightly and in a quick movement pulled ruthlessly outward.

He made a sound through his sleeve that was somewhere between a scream and a whimper, metal slicing through his glove with the strength of the pull and cutting deeply into his hand. Warm liquid heat coated Riku's palm, pouring from the torn material, while the white point slowly retreated from his stomach, shredding his skin and tearing his muscles even further, sending a new gush of blood to flow unrestrained down the front of his cloak, the thing coming free from his torso with a wet ripping echo.

Riku held the object out in front of his face. It was a metal disk colored white and a vivid shade of orange, welded together in an intricate design of metal with large elaborate spikes crafted all around the edges. It gleamed with a metallic shine, soaked in Riku's blood, a chakram.

He was in so much unbridled pain that he hardly perceived the heavy footsteps from behind him and the chakram being taken out of his hands until a hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed. Riku felt himself being yanked backwards, against a wiry body, could feel a puff of warm breath on his cheek and a low whisper in his ear. "Burn baby burn."

The hand instantly let go and with out the added support Riku plummeted backwards, falling onto his back and hitting the concrete hard, his throat closing around a mixture of blood and bile, the foul substance finding its way into his mouth as he turned his head vehemently coughing it out on the street. When he was able to focus again he looked upward through the rain, just making out a lean figure standing over him with vibrant spiky red hair.

The figure took a couple of steps back, glaring at him with heated green eyes but with an unreadable expression of his face. "Maybe, you should think twice next time before you try to walk off with my friend."

Riku didn't reply and the redhead didn't look to expect one, instead refocusing his attention on his blood covered chakram, and raising it to eye level, studying it and grimacing. "Well that's just great. Hey, I know it's not much of a consolation but it's going to take me awhile to get all of this off." The redhead's voice had changed from hard to somewhat amused and seemed completely out of place.

"Who…a-are…y-you." Riku just managed to choke out through the blood in his mouth.

"The name's Axel got it-"

Axel was interrupted as Riku expelled more blood from his lungs with another body-wrenching cough. Looking up, the redhead let his eyes run over Riku's frame, watching the increasing flow of blood for a moment. He frowned, looking faintly repulsed. "Yeah… Never mind, look just hang on a bit and I may be inclined to heal you but I need to…" Axel pointed backwards to where Roxas was lying a few feet away. "Tend to my friend first."

Axel's voice suddenly turned serious and resentful as he pointed a chakram in Riku's general direction. "Don't move. I won't go easy on you again. If you try anything you're dead."

The redhead kept his dark green eyes on Riku as he quickly made his way over to Roxas, placing his hands on the blonde's shoulders, he shook the young nobody almost roughly. "Hey Roxas…Roxas…Roxas!" The blonde remained unresponsive.

"Yeah, I guess that wouldn't work." Axel said to himself. The charkram user then produced a dark violet glass vial of liquid that Riku assumed was a potion.

"No…w-wait…don't." Riku breathed out.

Axel ignored him and placed a finger between the blonde's lips and against his teeth, taking a hold of Roxas's jaw in his other hand, succeeding in prying the blonde's mouth opened.

Riku watched the scene with growing distress, if Roxas woke up Riku knew he was as good as dead. It was almost funny the way he felt on top of the world one moment and all his dreams came crashing down and he was facing death with the next. Riku glanced to his side, seeing Oblivion splayed out across the pavement, he could tell it would be just scarcely in his reach. The opportunity was not one he could afford to pass up, looking quickly to Axel and seeing that the redhead's attention was now focused almost completely on Roxas, Riku kept his eyes trained on the charkram user as he slowly inched his arm painstakingly toward the keyblade.

'Time to wake up sleeping beauty." Axel chanted as he tipped the contents of the vial into Roxas's lips. The potion dripped down the blonde's chin, running down the corners of his mouth but Roxas was able to reflectively swallow a large majority of it. The blonde's numerous cuts, scrapes, and the gash on his head began to heal and the shattered bones of his wrist snapped back in place, the exposed wound closing. Roxas groaned, his eyes twitching rapidly as he came to wakefulness.

Riku's hand was halfway toward the keyblade.

Roxas sat bolt upright, staring blankly at Axel's face and looking very confused, lifting a hand to his temple, Roxas allowed himself a small wince at the steady pounding of his head, blinking a few times before at last recognition flowed over his features.

Axel was about to reach out a hand and ask if Roxas was alright when the blonde gave him a piercing glare. "Axel…the hell…"

Axel sat back slightly, allowing Roxas more room to move. "It's nice to see you too Roxas." He said with a smile even though his voice was just on the borderline of being sarcastic.

Roxas narrowed his eye further, clearly not amused. "What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here. Leave now."

Riku's fingers brushed the edge of Oblivion.

"That's it?" Axel asked feigning hurt. "I risk being turned into a dusk to come track you down and in the rain no less, since you don't seem to realize your little mission here is suicide and all I get is 'Axel the hell, what are you doing here. Leave' you could have at least said hi Axel, it's nice to see you too."

Roxas blinked vacantly for the second time. "So what are you doing here?"

Axel sighed with a frustrated air and pointed in Riku's direction. "Saving your neck obviously."

Roxas allowed his gaze to follow Axel's finger until his eyes landed on Riku. "Oh right him."

The blonde nobody stood up not bothering to brush off his water slick and grimy blood encrusted robe, summoned the keyblades and Oathkeeper immediately appeared in his hand, tossing the white keyblade into the air, Roxas caught it single handed as if were nothing more then a tambourine. All traces of lethargy gone as he walked over to Riku.

Roxas stood by Riku's head and looked down at the silver haired teen's face. If he saw Riku's outstretched arm in the direction of Oblivion, he chose to ignore it. Roxas was once again overcome with a sense of familiarity. Something was burning in the back of the blonde's mind telling him he should recognize the stranger who was a disarray of torn flesh laying out on the city street. Roxas didn't like the feeling. With a thick leather boot, he toed Riku cruelly in the side of his ribs. "Who are you?"

Riku looked up at him but didn't answer.

Roxas felt agitation pool inside of him, putting the point of Oathkeeper directly on Riku's forehead, not even applying enough pressure to graze the skin but all Roxas would have to do was press down and he could crush the silver haired teen's skull. "Answer me!"

Off of Riku's silence, Roxas trailed Oathkeeper down his nose and over his lips until the tip was right over Riku's unprotected and straining throat. "I said answer me! What's your name? How can you use the keyblade? Why do you seem so familiar?!"

"Roxas!" Axel called from a few feet away.

"What!?" Roxas snapped, turning to glance over at Axel, surprised when he saw the chakram user staring carefully at the silver haired teen and looking deep in thought.

"His name, it's Riku." Axel said after a short pause. "He's friends with the keyblade master. I bet that's why he seems familiar to you…and…ahhh…he's working with DIZ I think or that's the last I heard."

Roxas glared. "And you know this how?"

Axel ran a hand through his red spikes looking somewhat uncomfortable. "More things went on at Castle Oblivion then Xemnas wanted you to know" Axel then paused, looking thoughtful for a moment. "And of course our wonderful leader didn't want you there for oblivious reasons. Anyway, Riku was-"

"At the castle you mean?"

"Yeah, he was down in the dungeons. Then you know the story right? With the tyranny and then the whole bloody mess of Vexen creating a replica that I somehow found myself right in the middle of. I never did meet Riku but I was familiar with the replica."

"Oh" Roxas said. "So Riku was the one who killed-"

"Right" Axel finished. "Lexaeus and he defeated Zexion."

Riku listened vaguely as the two spoke over his head. The replica was something that still haunted him and Riku however distantly, wanted to know Axel's part in it but he kept silent, not wanting to draw attention to himself.

Roxas turned back to Riku the tip of Oathkeeper still digging into the silver haired teen's throat. "Is that right? Is your name Riku?" The blonde mocked

Roxas felt a rush of excitement. A year ago, the keyblade master had seemed to disappear off the face of the earth. Everyone knew he was still alive out there somewhere but no one had been able to locate him, knowing he was very close to learning the whereabouts of his other, Roxas couldn't keep the excitement and almost longing out of his voice. "Do you know where Sora is?"

Roxas didn't expect a reply but when he didn't receive one, his frustration grew nonetheless. Maliciously, he bent down and tore the blindfold from Riku's face. Riku reflectively closed his eyes, turning his head away. Riku's eyes didn't lie. He couldn't let Roxas see his eyes.

Roxas threw the torn piece of black cloth heatedly to the side. "Why do you wear that stupid thing anyway?!"

Something slender, cool, and soft skimmed across Riku's cheek and he heard a recognizable chirp by his ear. Riku stiffened, realizing at once that what was grazing his cheek was the antenna of a Neoshadow. He hadn't even heard it approach. The shadow emitted another high-pitched squeak, moving closer until it was pressed up against his neck.

The heartless were already back, continually coming in waves and the shadow meant the second one was already on its way. No doubt, they had sensed the keyblade and quickly came running. The street would soon be swarmed with them. Riku had to get off this world.

Riku was about to brush the shadow off when Roxas brought Oathkeeper down onto its head, its eyes bugging out against Riku's throat and he could hear it screaming inside his ear. He flinched, shutting his eyes tighter, trying his best to block out the sound and turn away from it. The heartless continued to scream and Roxas continued to pitilessly ground its head into the pavement. It soon dematerialized, coating Riku's cheek with black mist.

"If you don't answer me." Roxas said almost sadistically. "I'll walk away and let the heartless have you."

Riku felt panic consume him for a moment before he quickly replaced it with distrust and anger, trying to clear his throat well enough to form speech, the words came out barely audible. "You…re…n-not….ser…ious."

Roxas smirked. "Guess you can speak after all. Want to try me?"

"Roxas!" Riku heard Axel's distant voice. "Stop it. I've had enough of this at the tower. He's not going to talk. I'll help you find the answers alright? Just throw him a potion and lets leave."

"Shove it Axel!" Roxas said without looking up. "You shouldn't have followed me." The blonde then allowed a small laugh to escape his lips. "Besides don't you think it would be ironic, the great Riku defeater of Lexaeus and Zexion and after coming so far, eaten alive by mere shadows!?"

Axel said nothing, casting his eyes aside and falling silent.

Riku wasn't sure how he could have ever thought Roxas resembled Sora. Where Roxas smirked cynically, Sora smiled brightly. Where Roxas was harsh and brutal, Sora was caring and kind. Where Roxas didn't have a heart, Sora had one large enough for the whole universe. Riku's hand was finally able to grasp Oblivion. The silver haired teen tried to speak again but he found he wasn't able to with the building mixture of blood and bile in his mouth. Instead, he mutely mouthed two words. It drew Roxas's attention instantly.

"What?" Roxas asked.

Riku mouthed them again, putting more force behind the words but they still came out jumbled and faint.

"I can't hear you" Roxas scowled, kneeling down on the street so he was leaning over Riku, putting his hands on either side of aqua eyed teen's head, lowering his face so it was right above Riku's lips. "What? Say it again."

Riku lifted his head as best as he was able, breathing deeply through his nose before promptly spitting a mouthful of blood, bile, and thick saliva directly into the blonde's face.

Roxas jumped back, wiping at the substance. In the next moment, Riku forced himself to sit up even though it caused gut wrenching pain. Clutching Oblivion with a death grip, aiming the keyblade at the young nobody's head in a last frantic attack. "Sa…id…fuck you."

Roxas easily dodged the blow even with Riku's blood dripping from his eyes and counterattacked with Oathkeeper. Riku could only watch in horror as Oblivion was knocked away from his grasp and the tip of Oathkeeper descended upon his neck before it skimmed across the soft column of his throat.

There was not much pressure behind the strike. Riku would have been killed instantly if there had been, the cut barely breaking the skin as it spread out on Riku's neck in a thin jagged red line. Still the slice of broken flesh was deadly.

Riku instinctively put a hand to his throat, feeling warm blood spurt out from between his fingers, falling back onto the pavement, red liquid filling his throat and rushing into his mouth. Riku strained his mouth to open as blood pooled from his lips, streamed down his cheeks and chin, dripping onto the road, and quickly being washed away by the still beating rain.

Riku felt the need to cough but he wasn't able to, was scarcely able to breathe, tried to force air into his starving lungs but they didn't seem to want to work, seeing black spots at the edge of his vision, Riku realized he was near death, drowning in his own blood.

Riku for the first time opened his eyes to find the world spinning above his head. The dazzling neon lights of the city all seemed to come together in a single blur of blue, pink, and orange. He wasn't sure what was real anymore, reality was quickly slipping away. It would be easy to let the darkness take him. Riku could feel it calling in a familiar low whisper, chilling, gentle, and alluring all at the same time, but he didn't let himself give in, knowing the darkness was not something to be trusted, he railed against it for everything he was worth as he gasped and choked for each breath of air.

Then there was a face above him that he knew he should recognize but couldn't place, searching for a name, his sluggish mind came up with Roxas. The blonde was looking down at him and directly into his face, allowing their eyes to meet. That was something that was not supposed to happen but Riku couldn't recall why. He only knew Roxas had blue eyes, a clear and intense blue as brilliant as the sky. Even though they were a lighter shade, they were still Sora's eyes.

Riku would have given anything to see his friend then. It was the last thing he ever wanted. Roxas's face became distorted, blonde hair suddenly changing to burnet. The skin tone darkened. Riku could see an enthusiastic grin.

"So have you anything else to say?" Roxas asked from above Riku while wiping the gore from his face with a sleeve. Roxas paused shortly waiting for an answer. "Yeah, I didn't think so."

Roxas turned from Riku and began to walk away, motioning for Axel to follow who was looking a bit sick. "Lets go. He's useless now. I'll find the answers on my own."

Axel looked over to Roxas, meeting his hardened gaze. "Roxas I…we just can't…"

"If you want to stay with him and face the heartless fine." The blonde replied. "But I'm leaving, you can either come with me or not it's your choice."

Axel placed a hand on his chin. "Or we could go for the third option, forget all this madness, and you could follow me back to the organization."

Roxas glared. "I told you-"

"Hey, can't blame a guy for trying. Anyway I was only saying-."

Roxas was quickly losing his patience. "Are you coming or not?"

"Yeah, although I don't know why I should. You obviously snapped or something."

Roxas nodded uncaring, summoning the keyblades, and looking them over he let Oathkeeper and Oblivion vanish into thin air to use again in the near future. Hearing more heartless start to arise from the concrete and the beginning of a steady chirp in the background, Roxas started to concentrate on forming a portal when an inhuman voice interrupted him.

"SSSSsssoooorrrrraaaaa." Both Axel and Roxas turned to look at the silver haired teen on the city street who was trying desperately to form speech.

"That's not my name! Don't call me that!"

"SSSooooorrrrrraaaaaaaa."

Roxas clenched his hand and took a deep breath, trying to clam himself down. The blonde quickly relaxed, staring silently and intensely at Riku as if he was in a trance, feeling something while looking at the mangled body. The sense of familiarity was increasing, leaving Roxas feeling distant guilt and an urge to reach out. They weren't his feelings, were what was left over from his other and Roxas wanted no part in them.

Riku was Sora's friend that was all. The blonde only wanted to know the truth, and Riku had at least some of it. Roxas had been about to turn his back on Riku, disregard the entire situation but maybe Riku could still tell him something, the chance was invaluable and Roxas didn't know if he'd ever get it again. He was so sick of being felt in the dark, of not getting anywhere that he was desperate enough to do anything.

"What is it?" Axel asked.

Roxas stepped forward and lifted a hand in a motion for Axel not to follow. "Stay there a minute. I have an idea."

Roxas walked the short distance over to Riku, sinking down to his knees beside the aqua eyed teen, somewhat sheltering him from the rain.

Riku smiled up at the blonde. "SSSssssoooorrrrraaaaaa."

Roxas noticed with disgust that whenever Riku spoke there was more blood and bile that ran down his mouth and that the silver haired teen was swallowing a large portion of it back down. Roxas strengthened his resolve, gripping the side of Riku's face, fingernails digging into pale skin, and turning his head until their eyes met. "You think I'm Sora. Do I look like him?" Roxas asked in a whisper.

"Dammit Roxas!" The blonde heard Axel call in the background. "What are you trying to prove? Leave him alone. Don't you think you've done enough?"

Roxas raised a hand for silence. "Hang on" he said in a clipped tone without moving from his position over Riku.

"SSSsssooorrrraaaaaaa…yyyooouuuu…ccaaaammmeeee…SSSssssooorrraaaa."

Roxas hunched his shoulders, leaning in closer. He felt himself breathing heavily, tried to make his voice as soft as possible but it still came out rough, his words laced with venom. "I'm not Sora."

Riku looked up at him, clearly puzzled. It was taking every ounce of determination Roxas had for him not to lose his tolerance, gritting his teeth and instead of lashing out, he moved to cover Riku's torn hand that was spread out on the pavement with his own. Roxas wasn't really sure what he was doing. The urge to reach out and protect was growing in intensity and the blonde couldn't repress it completely. He hated Riku for trying to take him away and control his life, hated Riku for making him feel this way but most of all he blamed it on Sora. "But I could care less what you think if you help me."

Roxas wanted to be as far away from the feeling as possible, wanted to jerk away, but he couldn't allow himself to yet, being so close to learning where Sora was, he could feel it. Roxas felt Riku's cold fingers move underneath his palm, a nearly nonexistent fluttering and Roxas wasn't sure if he was trying to resist or grip back.

Roxas roughly shifted his grip on Riku's face, still keeping eye contact, tangling his fingers in Riku's silvery rain and blood soaked hair, pushing the other's head back, inadvertently causing more damage to his throat. "If you think I'm Sora then tell me where I am. Tell me so I can come find you. That's all you have to do. Tell me where."

Roxas could feel Riku's body jerk as the aqua-eyed teen tried in vain to breathe and form words, his voice coming out in a strained gurgle. "Throughhh…wwooddsss..Twi..Twi..lliiigghhhttt…ttoowwnnn…ttthheerree..sss…mmmaaanss…ion…poorrrttalll…inn…bassseeemmeennttt…tooo…laaabb…sleepppiinngg."

Roxas gave a genuine but cruel smile before he harshly and bitterly disentangled himself from Riku and immediately pulled away. Riku's only reaction was a labored and half-choked sob.

Roxas briskly walked back over to Axel who was staring at him as if he'd never seen him before. "I can't believe you just did that."

Roxas shrugged. "I have the information don't I?"

Roxas ignored the increasing number of heartless as he held an arm out to his side. Concentrating, Roxas momentarily produced a ring of swirling black, purple, and blue. "So it looks like we're going to Twilight Town"

Axel was looking back at Riku. "Roxas we just can't leave him-"

"He's basically dead. I doubt potions are going to do much good."

"Yeah, but we can't-"

"It might be better if I end his suffering. Should I finish him off?" Roxas asked in all seriousness.

Axel considered it for a second before sighing, "No, lets just get out of here."

Roxas and Axel stepped into the portal, disappearing in a rush of air and a mist of purple and black. It was if they'd never been there, as if Roxas had never taken part in fight that ended up in carnage.

Riku was alone in The World That Never Was, at the mercy of the city streets, wintry rain, and swirling lights. Maybe it finally was time to give into the darkness that kept pulsing at the back of his mind…_because the darkness could save him…right?_

Riku realized he was forgetting to breathe and let his eyes fall shut, hearing a coo by his ear and feeling a slight weight on his chest, he forced his eyes to open. They were watery and crusted with blood but he could make out the blurry image of a Neoshadow. It looked like an insect the way it was perched on him, with swelling golden eyes, long antenna, and a body made of ebony black. It was right over his heart and the instinct was overwhelming to jerk it off but Riku was far beyond the point of movement.

The shadow's needle sharp claws slashed through his already torn rode. Another heartless appeared at the silver haired teen's shoulder and the two shadows were soon fighting, making gurgled shrieks as they blindly slashed and ripped each other to shreds, fighting over him, Riku realized.

More heartless came from the pavement and swarmed around the aqua eyed teen's entire body. The victor of the fighting two perched back on his chest and started once more to tear at his cloak. In seconds, Riku's pale skin was visible to the cold night air. There was no warning before he felt the heartless rupture his chest and then meld into his flesh.

Nothing he'd ever went through before could compare to the torment Riku found himself in as the cold mass of the Neoshadow broke through his ribcage, claws sinking into the bloody mess of his pounding heart, tears leaked from the corners of his eyes, mixing with the rain. He opened his mouth to scream from sheer agony but nothing came out.

It was only when the claws sunk deeper, started to tear his heart from his body that any real sound came from behind the scream. It was a muffled and strangled groan that sent the blood in his throat and mouth spilling down his face and onto the concrete but it was all Riku had until the world faded to black, the darkness finally claming him as he became blissfully unaware.

Far away in Twilight Town, in an underground lab, the keyblade master for the first time in a year twitched a finger.


	3. Inseparable

Notes: I redid chapter 2 a bit since I wasn't completely happy with the way it turned out. Well hope I can write Kairi better. She's basically just here to break up the action and well it's kind of an important chapter. I was a little misty eyed at the end of this and don't worry Riku's not dead by a long shot.

Chapter 3: Inseparable

Kairi had to force herself to go through the motions of another day. She would get up, get dressed, and then go to school. It was easy for her to receive high grades, doing the assignments without even trying. When the teacher called on her, she always had the right answer, only Kairi was never really there, sitting at her desk and staring at the blackboard without seeing it. When her classmates and teachers were too absorbed to notice her, Kairi would give up pretending and gaze wistfully out the window.

At lunch, she'd sit with Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka, eating mechanically without tasting the food but if her friends noticed, they never said anything. Selphie would talk excitedly about the newest dress she brought while Tidus and Wakka would go on and on about blitzball, all of it seeming so normal. The conversations meant little to Kairi, sailing over her head. When her friends asked her opinion, she would smile up at them and nod, without having heard them. That had been her life for the past year.

Then when school was over, she could at last go down to the beach. Everyday without fail, she'd sit out on the sandy shoreline, digging in her toes and shifting her hands through the sun warmed and fine white sand, running her fingers over the roughness of twisting shells and the smooth dove gray of clamshells, collecting the bodies of washed up starfish before she threw them back into the ocean. Then Kairi would stare into the distance at the never-ending expanse of blue sea.

She'd stay that way for hours on end until the sky faded to night, waiting for anything, a trace of hope, a splash, or ripple out of the glittering water. Nothing ever came. Sometimes Kairi fell asleep underneath the soft glow of the starlight. The sound of the crashing waves were comforting and lured her to sleep, soothing her nerves more then a human voice ever could.

Kairi couldn't blame Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka for not understanding. After all, how could they? They hadn't seen what she had, didn't know what she'd been through. Kairi would have given the world to be able to talk to one of them but they'd never be able understand what she meant, what she felt. The redhead was expected to go back to a normal life like nothing had ever happened but that was impossible. She wasn't the same fourteen-year old girl anymore. She was different no matter how the others tried to overlook it.

Kairi no longer believed things were so innocent and that lucky charms could chase away any problem, was on longer the girl with the chopped hair, content to just run and play in the sunshine of her tiny island. Kairi knew there were other worlds out there, that she was only a trivial part in something much greater. It wasn't the same when she stood beside the sea. She felt so insignificant and small.

Once in a time that felt so long ago, Kairi had told a boy to never change, knowing now that could never happen. Just like her, he would be over a year older. She'd missed out on seeing him grow, on being with him, the lost time something that could never be made up. The boy had faced death and things that were only supposed to exist in nightmares, had been put through situations she couldn't even imagine and as much as Kairi wished everything could still be the same, she knew it never would be again.

Kairi wasn't sure why the others couldn't remember him. Tidus and Wakka looked confused whenever she hinted at mentioning the boy. Selphie simply said she made him up. Everyone else moved on, all forgetting about him but her, as if he never existed. Kairi's memories of him were vague at best. She could picture a blurry face followed by a mixture of jumbled feelings but that was it. She didn't even know his name.

It was slow at first but Kairi could tell Selphie, Wakka, and Tidus were starting to distance themselves from her, unintentionally leaving her out of activities and beginning to develop their own lives, letting her have her time alone out on the beach. Kairi was strangely grateful even when she knew a part of herself was fading away but she couldn't bring herself to care, knowing she would wait for the boy as long as it took. She hadn't given up hope of his return, would forever believe.

It wasn't always like this. Kairi used to be carefree and happy, running along the lapping waves with the boy and Riku, laughing the whole time and sitting with them under the bleeding colors of the pink, orange, and red sunset. That was when the three of them talked about paopu fruit and promised to always stay together. Kairi never could have foreseen this future, never thought that one day they would all be torn apart and that she would end up alone.

The boy had left to find their friend Riku, their silver haired friend that had let the darkness penetrate his heart but in the end had sacrificed everything to save them both from an unknown fate, so the boy from her memory had to go, needed to rescue Riku, bring him back to the island so they could all be together again.

Kairi alone was the last remaining out of their trio. Sometimes she'd go to the Secret Place, running her hands over the rocky walls and staring at the drawing she and the boy had carved of each other sharing a paopu fruit. Kairi went only to remind herself that the boy existed. The drawing was proof he was real, no matter what her friends thought but she could never stop the tears from leaking down her face whenever she looked at it because once she knew it had held a special meaning in her heart and now she couldn't even remember how it came to be.

Kairi knew all she needed was his name and the memories would flow back to her. She tried everything to remember, used to know his name by heart, once being able to speak it without a second thought, without worry or hesitation, could still see herself saying it, could still feel her lips forming the one word. Though no matter how close she was to grasping it, his name always escaped her, locked somewhere within a barrier of her mind.

So Kairi waited for a boy. A boy who she couldn't remember the name of because he was all she had left.

Kairi's only sanctuary was in sleep. While sleeping she was able to escape from the outside world that she felt so isolated from. She didn't have to force herself through another day or worry about the weary looks Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka gave her whenever she motioned 'the boy', didn't have to see the worried glances the mayor threw her way, a man that called himself her father but really was just another stranger to her.

In sleep, Kairi could dream. It was in her dreams that she could envision the boy from her memory.

Eyes such a deep shade of blue, they rivaled the sky. Eyes that glistened with wonder, adventure, resolve, and an unfulfilled dream. It was so easy to get lost in his eyes.

A lopsided smile that nearly took up his whole face, that he wore every time he saw her coming, face lighting up just from her being near, how he'd pout every time he didn't get his way. His cheeks always round and soft, yet his body toned from countless days spent swimming and sparring and his skin tanned from the sun

Dark brown hair that stood out in all directions and smelled of earth and salt from the sea. Hair he would sometimes run a hand through out of sheepishness or in a sign of unconscious agitation.

A voice full of promise, strength, and untamed laughter. A voice she'd been drawn to from the first moment she'd met him. She could never wait just too simply hear what he would say to her next, she'd always loved talking to him.

In her dreams, she even remembered the last time she saw him as if it had happened only moments ago.

She could still feel the heat from their intertwined fingers, his grip on her hand was hard, almost desperate and she clung back just as strong, holding on as long as possible, all the while her hand was being wrenched away. Soon her fingertips could only graze his and then she grasped nothing but air.

In her dreams, he came back to her. He'd be off in the distance swimming toward the shore with Riku right behind him, shouting her name as he reached the beach, and smiling that grin she knew so well, waving to her with his whole arm, an action the made his whole body rock back and forth but something he'd always done when he greeted her.

She'd get up off the sand and run to him, throwing herself at him so hard she would knock him back, then she'd wrap her arms around him and Riku too, the three of them half laughing and half sobbing, holding each other in a tangle of arms and legs and she would never let go. Not ever again.

That dream was something that played out in her mind every night, happening in hundreds of different situations and ways but that's all it was, a dream. Kairi would wake up in her room or out on the beach, looking up hopefully before she realized she was alone. Then the boy's image would slip away from her and her eyes would tear, her heart hurting so bad she felt as if she wanted to die.

Only tonight was different. Kairi was aware that this time she actually was dreaming.

She was standing on the beach and looking out at the sea just like always but she was afraid, could feel something was off, was deadly wrong.

Every time it was the boy who reached the shore first, swimming and waving madly, Riku always reaching it second. This time there was no boy, it was only Riku and he wasn't swimming. He was walking slowly and calmly out from beneath the water. Kairi could see his head emerge and then his shoulders, soon the water only came up to his waist and then just barely covered his feet as he stepped out onto the dry sand.

Riku was soaking wet, wearing a black robe, crystal water dripping from him in rivulets, pastel light of the moon mirroring his silver hair and illuminating his pale skin. Riku looked ethereal standing there cast in the soft brightness, but everything else including Kairi was doused in shadow.

Kairi's violet eyes met his, but the aqua green was hard and haunted. Riku stepped forward. Kairi flinched and stepped quickly back.

"What's wrong Kairi? Is it because I'm not him? Aren't you happy to see me?" Riku said cynically but somewhat amused.

"I'm dreaming." She heard herself say, her voice sounding hazy and far-off.

Riku took another step forward and Kairi once again stepped back.

"Who says?"

Kairi knew this wasn't Riku. Her silver haired friend wouldn't leave her feeling this terrified, this edgy. What stood in front of her may have been a fragment of Riku but there was something else there that was deeper, dark, and deadly. All Kairi wanted to do was run. "Stop it! I'm dreaming! I want to wake up!"

Riku crossed his arms and gave her a smug smile. "I need to tell you something first."

"What?" Kairi's voice didn't come out so panic stricken, fear partly replaced by curiosity at Riku's last statement, having a feeling that whatever the aqua-eyed teen said was going to change her life.

"I failed"

"Failed? I don't understand."

Riku tilted his head slightly, silver hair cascading over his shoulder. "I wasn't able to awaken him and now he will continue to sleep."

"He's asleep? Why is he sleeping?"

"It doesn't matter" Riku said bitterly. "What's important is that you know he will continue to waste away. He has no chance of ever coming back to you. If you thought waiting for him for the past year was hard, try eternity without him."

"You're lying." Kairi's voice had lost all traces of fear and now bordered on defiance and determination. "He promised to come back to me. I believe him and I will wait for him as long as it takes."

Riku smirked. "That's a nice sentiment but are you sure about that? You're already so close to breaking. How much longer can you really hold out Kairi? How much longer can you keep this up?"

"As long as it takes" Kairi repeated.

Riku looked upward at the sky, letting his head fall backwards. "Without him the worlds will die. The sky will open, the heartless will come. You will be killed. You will never see me or him again."

Kairi's eyes narrowed. "You're wrong."

Riku shrugged indifferently. "Believe what you want but the fact remains I still lost, he is still asleep and I…" Riku trailed off, blinking as if confused, staring down at his hands. "I think I died"

Whatever the thing was that had been inside of Riku before was gone. Now it was only the silver haired teen that stood before her, left open and whole. Riku looked into her face, his expression clouded in uncertainty and a slight trace of vulnerability. "The heartless came for me." He said, voice sounding mystified and strangled. "They tried to pull my heart from my body."

Kairi reached out a hand toward him. "Riku…"

Riku met her eyes. "Kairi, I'm dead Kairi."

Kairi shook her head vigorously, sending long red hair flying into her face. "Riku!" She called out frantically, running forward, kicking up sand, wanting to wrap her arms around him, knowing she needed to get to him, to hold onto him, to help him in anyway she could.

Kairi was an arms distance away when his expression turned into a sneer. Stopping short, she watched in horror as the right side of Riku's face melted away directly in front of her eyes. Chunks of flesh shredding away and falling onto the sand, exposing pulsing red muscle and the glistening white of his skull, right eye changing from green to a full shinning yellow, lips splitting down the front, right half peeling completely off, the strips of skin still hanging from his face turning and glowing an inky black as Riku's face throbbed and swirled with the darkness.

Kairi's eyes widened but she couldn't turn away, to terrified to move. She opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out. She couldn't struggle, couldn't even jerk away when Riku's hand came up to grip her shoulder, her body feeling as if it were frozen. Riku pulled her forward, toward him. "What's wrong Kairi? Do I frighten you?"

Kairi woke up from where she'd fallen asleep with her head against the windowsill. She pressed her wrist to mouth, biting into her palm to muffle her scream, lifting her other palm to her face, gasping for breath, sobbing, and choking into her hands. Her heart racing as a sudden sharp pain tore through her chest, intense, feeling like needles and she knew in that moment something had happened to Riku.

Kairi felt like she was going to be sick, running to her conjoined bathroom, she barely made it as she heaved into toilet, expelling the contents of her stomach, feeling as if her whole body was trying to turn itself inside out but it didn't last long and Kairi quickly flushed the toilet, then vigorously rinsed her mouth out before returning to her bedroom.

She touched a hand to her cheek, feeling the wetness there but didn't try to brush the tears away, letting them fall. She could feel the sobs in her throat but fought them back, breathing deeply through her nose, trying to calm herself and keep herself quite. She couldn't afford to wake the mayor. Slowly, her breathing became steadier. Her tears began to cease.

Kairi stood in the center of her room, looking to the place by her window where her math textbook was still laying carelessly across the plush blue carpet. She had been studying, remembered her eyes had gotten heavy and the math problems had seemed to blur together. She'd been half sprawled on her floor and half slumped against the window, resting her arms on the windowsill, using them as a pillow, and she'd fallen asleep. Kairi could still feel the slight tingling sensation of the blood rushing back into her limbs.

Her whole room was nearly cast in shadow. The window was opened and the glow from the moon streamed through being the only source of light, looking like a white puddle on her pale fuchsia bedspread. Kairi could feel the gentle breeze from the sea on her feverish and sweaty skin, the nightmare still fresh in her mind, seeming so detailed and vivid, feeling completely real.

"Riku…" Kairi whimpered. The dream had been a warning she was sure of it. Riku had just been through something terrible that she was afraid to even think about. She'd felt it in her heart when she'd woken up. This wasn't the first time Kairi wished she could be there for her friends, but she was alone on Destiny Islands, having no way of reaching them. She felt helpless and she hated it.

Suddenly wanting to be outside, Kairi crawled out through her window. She was wearing her pajamas, white drawstring pants and a small peach colored top. They were very easy to move in. Kairi jumped the small distance to the ground, feeling the cooled sand on her bare feet. The warm nighttime air that smelled slightly of salt brushed through her hair and Kairi took off at a run, not stopping until she reached the closet thing she had to a safe haven. The beach.

Panting slightly, she sat down looking out to sea. The water was the color of dark gray blue, waves swelling and rippling gently as they lapped at the shore. Kairi could hear the soft rushing sound. The large silvery moon and the glinting of stars shone vividly against the nearly pure black sky, water reflecting the light as it shimmered and sparkled. There was no doubt it was beautiful.

Kairi felt content, strangely real and alive. She laid down on her side and curled in on herself, a smile crossing her lips as she thought about the boy, wondering if he missed home. Closing her eyes, she was about to fall back asleep, when she moved her arm and felt the blunt edge of something jab her shoulder.

Startled she sat up, seeing something brown sticking up from beneath the sand, she dug it out, holding up a wooden sword, covered in bits of wet sand, weathered and cracked but whole. Kairi swallowed back the sudden tightness in her throat. The boy and Riku used to play with these, maybe the sword even belonged to the boy at one point. Kairi constantly used to watch them fight. If she closed her eyes, she could nearly envision Riku swinging one through the air.

An idea suddenly came to her. Standing up, she glanced over her shoulder to make sure on one else was there, even though the chances of that were remote. Satisfied, Kairi held the sword out in front of her and formed an image of Riku in her mind. She had watched his technique on the island enough to know it by heart and she pictured the way he moved, his arms, his steps, his posture. She followed it.

Kairi swung the sword through the air as Riku would, letting herself move like him, trying to become him as she stepped through his routine. It was hard, much harder then she thought especially when Riku made it seem so effortless. It didn't take long for Kairi to lose her footing and fall onto the sand. Dusting herself off, she tried again. It took nearly twenty times before she accomplished just half of his routine with out ending up back on her face. Even then, Kairi wasn't anywhere near as graceful as he was, being slow and clumsy, from never doing this before. The sword didn't flow and cut through the air in elegant and skillful motions for her like it did for Riku.

The redhead practiced until she was to spent to move, before letting herself fall onto her back, collapsing against the beach, sweat slicked hair fanning out behind her, breathing hard, limbs feeling rubbery but it was nice and she promised herself she would do this again tomorrow.

Kairi smiled as she looked up at the moon, the boy entering her mind as he always did. In that moment she felt the closest to him she had been in the last year. He was out there somewhere, maybe also thinking of her. Wherever he was, they shared the same earth, the same sky. They were both alive in this moment. "I wonder" Kairi whispered breathlessly "If you're looking at the moon too."

She held the wooden sword above her face, studying it as it flickered with moonlight, a look of undefeated strength passing over her features. "You're wrong Riku. We'll see each other again, no matter what happens. I know we will."

Kairi suddenly sat up, having the urge to scream out to the sea, wanting the whole world to know what she had to say next, letting her voice ring out clear and unfaltering in the night. "You hear that Riku! No matter what! You, me, and him are inseparable!"


	4. Begin Again

Notes: Roxas is acting sadistic in this chapter. Probably even more so then in chapter two. I wanted to show him being sadistic to a point because I wanted to do a transition type of thing but I think I'm over doing it. I really want to keep him IC but he's coming across as a whinny brat. There weren't that many scenes that showed him in Organization XIII in the game so… I don't know.

The story is going to focus on Roxas for a bit and Sora and Riku probably aren't going to come in for another ten chapters or so which is where the story is actually going to start. See told you this would be a long one.

Anyway, thanks so much to everyone who took time out to review. I really appreciate it. I also replaced the first two chapters again. I mainly just changed some dialog.

Chapter 4: Begin Again

DIZ lifted both of his hands to his face and tenderly began to massage the bridge of his nose. There was a faint throbbing at the back of his head that was threatening to turn into a full fledge headache. His vision was starting to become distorted, eyelids feeling heavy. He hadn't moved from his chair since Riku left and staring fixedly at the several computer monitors was starting to get to him. All he wanted to do was shut his eyes from the world, lay his head on the desk, and sleep but he knew this wasn't an option.

The simulation he and Riku were going to put Roxas through was very in depth, requiring months of relentless effort and nonstop work on his part. DIZ couldn't remember the last time he slept more then three hours in a night or the last time he sat down to eat. Completing the program had been the only thing that mattered, his health coming second. The simulation was on the borderline of crude, no doubt from a result of rushing something that should have taken years into a few months. However, DIZ would make due.

DIZ needed the program absolutely ready for when Riku came back. The cloaked man was still putting the finishing touches on it, which would require at least a few more hours of tedious work. With a deep breath, he put his fingers back on the keyboard. He needed to finish this. The program was a very important part of his and Riku's plan and vital to awakening the keyblade master. DIZ began to enter a new code and check through the simulation when his eyes fell shut and his head dropped forward, he then also realized he needed some more coffee.

DIZ stiffly stood up from his chair and rolled sore shoulders, grabbing his coffee cup, he hit the light switch, and made his way out of the control room. He kept the coffee maker right outside. As he poured steaming coffee, his thoughts drifted to Riku. It had been well over four hours since the silver haired teen had left and DIZ still didn't expect him back for some time. There was a whole world Riku had to track down Roxas in but DIZ couldn't stop himself from feeling highly troubled, with each passing second, growing more and more anxious.

It hadn't been easy to let all his hard work ride in the hands of another, to give up control, letting everything depend on the silver haired teen. If Riku failed or if something happened to him, DIZ knew all they'd done would be for nothing. Riku had sworn he would bring back Roxas and DIZ believed him but it was far from a sure thing. In spite of everything, Riku was still just an unreasonable teenager who'd been through more in the past year then people go through in a lifetime. Sometimes it was hard for DIZ to remember Riku was only sixteen. Anything was possible in The World That Never Was and DIZ wouldn't be reassured until Roxas was safe and contained inside the lab.

DIZ wondered sometimes if he was doing the right thing concerning Roxas. What the blonde would experience and how he would react during the simulation was something he rarely allowed himself to think about. Yet, DIZ was only human and ever so often, it crossed his mind. The bandaged man was going to manipulate the memories of a nobody, a nobody that lived, breathed, and had its own mind.

The simulation would throw off the organization and give Roxas things he could have never hoped to obtain; friends, happiness, a place to belong. The blonde would then slowly awaken from it, his new life being ripped away in the process. When everything was over, Roxas would realize he was only being used and that his only importance was to hand over everything he was for the sake of another. Roxas would be broken, taken apart piece by piece, and made to fade away. In return, the keyblade master would be revived.

The cloaked man knew it had to be done. If what he was doing was callous, so be it. He'd told himself over and over again that this was the fate of a nobody. Roxas wasn't supposed to exist, he didn't have a heart so he wasn't really a person. This was to save the worlds but a darker part of DIZ knew that wasn't the only reason. He wanted revenge against the organization. Organization XIII had taken his work, his dreams, and his life. Vengence was the only thing he found worth mattering anymore and Roxas was just the unfortunate key to accomplishing it.

DIZ knew in part his plans for revenge were a fool's dream but at the same time, he knew he could never abandon them, would see them through to the end because he'd started this chaos and the least he could do was finish it. He supposed he really just wanted it over with, maybe he only was a tired old man.

DIZ sighed as he rose his nearly overflowing cup to his lips. The coffee was strong, black, and the taste slightly bitter but DIZ would not have it any other way. The hot liquid felt soothing on his tongue and the heat from the cup pleasant on his hands. The cup was white and chipped in places and the only procession DIZ still had from before the organization was formed. He was somewhat attached to it, would even call it faithful if he wasn't beyond referring to an inanimate object in that sense.

With one, more stretch of his sore muscles and coffee in tow, DIZ made his way back to the control room, flipping on the light switch, he knew at once something was off, eyes snapped to the center of the room. His chair was moved aside, breath hitching and his stomach twisted at what he saw.

Roxas was leaning back in his chair, feet propped up on a computer consol, and idly tossing a white keyblade and catching it as if it were a rubber ball. Roxas turned his head, meeting the bandaged man's terror-stricken face, a small smile playing out on his lips. "Hi, I think we need to talk."

DIZ couldn't move, couldn't speak, eyes widening in shock, not even realizing as the coffee cup slipped from his fingers, crashing to the ground and shattering into small pieces. Coffee splashed at his feet.

"Here's how it's going to work." Roxas continued as if him sitting there was an everyday occurrence. "You are going to stand there. You are not going to move. I'm going to ask some questions and you are going to answer them or I'll kill you." The blonde's voice was eerily clam but there was a hidden edge to it.

DIZ inhaled, trying to will the initial shock and panic away. The bandaged man was very rational and able to keep his head in the most desperate situations, he could deal with Roxas, even knew he would have to confront the blonde eventually, planning to do it inside the simulation. However, this was far from anything DIZ had counted on. Roxas was not bound by any boundaries or limits, could do whatever he pleased, and was holding a deadly weapon from across the room.

DIZ took in the blonde's appearance, black robe splattered with blood and there was a brown crust on his face the cloaked man couldn't identify. When DIZ spoke, his voice came out slightly shaky, saying the first thing that came to mind. "Where's Riku?"

"I didn't say you could talk" Roxas said seemly annoyed but the blonde then paused, smirked, and answered DIZ anyway. "But if you're talking about your dog he's been shot."

The last bit of hope DIZ was holding onto instantly vanished, feeling his heart plummet and his blood run cold. "You killed-"

"No!" Roxas said so severely that DIZ was partially surprised by the reaction. "I didn't kill him. He was the one who attacked me. I was only defending myself but when I left, he was near dead. He's probably a heartless by now."

DIZ was about to open his mouth to reply when Roxas leaned forward in the computer chair. "Don't ask anything else. Now it's your turn to answer me."

DIZ gave a curt nod. He had to stay in control. This situation was delicate and DIZ could not afford to make a mistake, he was a well-accomplished scientist and Roxas was nothing more then a recently born nobody. There was still a chance DIZ could make him see reason. "Alright, ask me whatever you want and I will answer to the best of my knowledge" DIZ was relieved when his voice came out steady and in his familiar arid and deep tone.

Roxas looked satisfied and sat back. "Good, why did you send your dog to hunt me down? What did you want me for?"

"We needed you to awaken the keyblade master"

"How? What do you mean awaken?" The blonde asked sharply.

"The keyblade master is asleep. Or in a catatonic state if, you will. The only chance he has is for you to complete him by merging with him."

Roxas blinked, looking interested. "You want me to merge with him?"

"Yes, that is the only way."

"What happens to me if I do?"

DIZ hesitated for a moment, face turning uneasy before he quickly schooled his features back to their placid expression, grateful Roxas would not have detected his moment of insecurity because of the think wrappings covering his face, breathing in deeply, his words came out detached. "Then you will lose your will, your conscience, and everything that you are. It will be as if you never existed."

"Like death?"

"Yes"

"What makes you think I would do that?" Roxas's voice was hard but there was also an undertone of curiosity.

"Because you were never supposed to exist. You are nothing, a mistake. The only way you can amount to anything is by giving yourself over. That is your destiny."

"You know" Roxas said tossing Oathkeeper before catching it. "I think you're forgetting who has the power right now. And Xemnas thinks you're a liability by the way."

"Xemnas" DIZ said slowly "Yes, somehow I don't doubt that. However, I can assure you whatever feelings he has for me are mutual."

"Sure, I'll tell him that if I ever see him again."

DIZ looked at Roxas skeptically. "Do you even know what you have gotten yourself into with the organization Roxas? Do you know what happened between my one time apprentice and myself? Why the organization was formed in the first place?"

Roxas shrugged. "No, but then I don't care either. Besides, I'm past the organization. I came here because of my other."

"Alright…" The bandaged man answered.

Roxas fell silent for a moment, gathering his thoughts before he continued. "You obliviously knew I would not be willing to surrender myself for him, so what was your plan to make me go through with it?"

DIZ replied without even a pause, direct and brutally honest. "After Riku brought you here, I was going to put you inside a simulation of a virtual Twilight Town. All of your memories would have been erased and manipulated. It would have felt as if you were living a normal life. Then slowly and with the help of Naminé, you would remember the past experiences of the keyblade master, restoring his memories in the process. Eventually, you would awaken from the simulation and meet the keyblade master. By then there would be little choice but for you to complete him."

A vague smile crossed the blonde's lips "But things didn't go according to your plans"

"That is apparent" DIZ drawled.

"So if the dog dragged me back here" Roxas said dangerously. "I would be…what? In your lab with a whole bunch of wires hooked to my head, living a false reality?"

"Yes, that's the crude but basic concept."

The blonde looked at DIZ challenging, his hand unconsciously tightening on the keyblade. "You're. Insane."

"So I've been told"

Roxas hopped off the computer chair, tailing Oathkeeper over the numerous computer screens. The sharp keyblade scratched into the glass with a high-pitched whine before the blonde ran it over the console and the main keyboards. "Want to know what I think of your idea?"

DIZ remained motionless from his place at the door, not bothering to answer the question, having a sinking suspicion about what Roxas was going to do, he evenly met the blonde's poisonous glare.

With out warning Roxas thrust the keyblade into the main computer screen. There was the droning of electricity before Roxas hit it again and the computer burst forth into a shower of bright turquoise and yellow sparks. The blonde did not relent. In unrestrained frustration and rage, he brought the keyblade down over and over again onto the pulsating computers. Thick glass broke, shards of it flying at the walls, consoles and keyboards shattered, crashing to the floor, making the room vibrate with heated blue electricity. Broken pieces of plastic and metal ignited into small and intense azure flames, everything indistinguishable and scattered across the floor.

DIZ could only watch while his months of hard work were destroyed in a matter of seconds. Every time the keyblade hit DIZ winced as if he was the one that had been struck. The bandaged man couldn't afford to start over, knew there'd be no picking up the pieces after this. Everything he'd rebuilt since the organization was formed was being obliterated right in front his eyes. His mind screamed at him to take action, muscles twitching with anxiety but he didn't try to interfere, knowing he was powerless against the blonde and it would only do more harm then good. The cloaked man stayed unmoving, not even a flicker of his inner turmoil reaching his eyes.

"That's what I think." Roxas said when he finally stilled the keyblade, voice raspy and shoulders hitching with minor strain.

Roxas walked the short distance over to the doorway, stopping to where he was standing a few feet in front of DIZ. "I'm through talking to you. Get out of the way."

In opposition, DIZ dug his fingers tightly into the hard gray doorframe and braced himself. "What do you want Roxas?"

The blonde looked at him unconcerned. "I want to see my other."

"Why!?" DIZ nearly shouted, built up distress and irritation at last starting to show through his voice. "What could you want with him? He cannot respond to you. What is the point?"

"That's not for you to worry about."

"Tell me" DIZ insisted. "You've already made it clear you don't intend to awaken him. Are you planning to cut out his heart and put it in your own chest?"

DIZ realized he struck a nerve when Roxas glanced cuttingly up at him "Move. I won't say it again"

"Listen to me Roxas!" DIZ said in an unwavering effort to make the blonde see reason. "If you don't awaken him the worlds will fall apart and the whole universe will be consumed by the heartless. Without the keyblade master, we have maybe another two or three more years before we all will perish. You know you have to do this. It is your fate. Your destiny. You are a nobody. No matter how hard you try you can't run from that"

"Well, I think you're just a crazy old man and neither option appeals to me really."

"You know I speak the truth but I can no longer force you to make the decision. It is yours alone. Make the right one."

"The way I see it I lose out either way. It I don't merge with him then at least I stay myself a little longer so that is what I choose."

"I can't believe you would be so vindictive as to let all of the worlds die for your own selfishness."

Roxas took a step closer. "It's not selfish. It's wanting to stay alive. I feel pain. I have my own desires and thoughts. My other may have created me but I'm going to fix what he has done. I'm going to make it so that there is only one of us just not in the way you intended. Then no one, especially someone like you will ever threaten my existence again!"

DIZ felt his body stiffen in disbelief, his fingers tightening further on the doorframe. "I will not allow for you to harm the keyblade master." He said as if he were stating a simple fact.

Roxas moved closer still. "In your own words, I don't think you have much of a choice."

"I had my doubts about putting you in the simulation. Even though you are nobody I kept wondering, what your feelings may be. Sometimes I debated if what I was doing was right. I see now that was a grave mistake."

The blonde's eyes flashed. "That was the wrong thing to say."

Roxas lashed out at the cloaked man's face and brought the keyblade down onto the back of his head, the blow taking place in a fraction of a second before DIZ even had a chance to process it. Roxas stepped back with the keyblade over his shoulder and DIZ instinctively placed a hand to the back of his head, feeling his torn facemask, his hand coming back covered in blood. DIZ quickly feeling his vision dim looked into the blonde's face, seeing Roxas's expression was an unusual mixture of rebelliousness and arrogance. DIZ fell forward, his body hitting the floor with a heavy thud.

Roxas exited the room.

0o0o0o0

Axel did not know how long he'd been waiting outside the old man's lab. Roxas had been gone for a while and the blonde was definitely taking his sweet time. Axel went from grinding his teeth to tapping his fingers against the wall. Now he was flat out pacing.

Once they knew where to look, Twilight Town, the mansion, and the lab were all exceptionally easy to find. After the whole ordeal with Riku and leaving The World That Never Was, Axel and Roxas had barely spoken a word to each other, Roxas leading them to Twilight Town and Axel following without comment like the wonderful best friend he was.

It was only after they arrived and were standing right outside their destination that Axel broke the silence. "Whatever your planning just get it over with. I don't want to see it. I'll be here when you're done."

In response, Roxas glanced up at him for a moment, giving a sharp nod before disappearing inside. That had then ended their one sided conversation, short and to the point.

Axel was continuing to pace, taking quicker strides, several questions burning in the back of his mind. Upon entering Twilight Town, more questions kept forming and his doubts about this whole situation were growing stronger. Axel didn't voice them, mostly because he didn't want to. The redhead didn't fully know why Roxas was so intent on confronting DIZ and meeting Sora but he could understand the temptation, particularly considering how unique Roxas was. The blonde did have the keyblade master as his other. Sora, or rather what Sora could accomplish was critical to the organization and Xemnas especially but Roxas wasn't concerened with that, wanting something personal.

Axel did have to admit if he was the one with the other he would be insanely captivated with the idea but somehow Axel didn't think Roxas was doing this out of ordinary curiosity. Axel did have some thoughts but the best one he could come up with was violent and very dark. Honestly, he didn't want to think about it.

Axel's conscience was starting to creep up on him as his thoughts kept coming back to Riku. When he first saw the silver haired teen, dragging Roxas away limp and bloody, all Axel felt was uncontrolled fury. No one dared to hurt Roxas and take the blonde away from him, his only source of feeling. He'd been angry enough to force a chakram through the other's stomach. Then when Roxas woke up and basically tortured Riku, Axel's anger faded. The redhead was reminded of the replica. It fought to stay alive, to become real but its eyes were always dead, remembered Sora's drive to save it, thinking it was the real Riku. Axel then felt only numb. The image of the silver haired teen lying in the rain, with his throat silt, and choking on his own blood kept repeating in his mind.

Axel felt an increasing desire to go back for Riku, even debated on leaving right now and abandoning Roxas to his own devices, knew he should have but he didn't think it would make much of a difference. By the time the redhead was able to get back to where Riku was, he was sure there would be nothing left. That was even considering if he could find the place again. Still if nothing else, it would ease his conscience.

It was hard for Axel to believe how much everything had changed in not even a day, going from his normal yet unplanned life as the organization's number eight to nearly loosing his best friend and turning traitor by following him. Axel wished things could be like they were before, when Roxas first joined Organization XIII, at first being clueless to their world and the blonde despite his best efforts sometimes slipped up. Roxas could also say the most strangest and random things that would get the redhead to smile.

A time back when all the organization members were still alive and Castle Oblivion was supposed to serve more as a far away home then a killing ground. Axel had been the only one to make it out of that blasted place, surviving the murder and the betrayal, by not choosing sides and fighting for himself. The redhead killed Vexen without much of a second thought, never really liked him in the first place and then the scientist created the replica. For a nobody to give life to something else was beyond crossing the line and Vexen unsurprisingly couldn't control it. Vexen was a liability and would bring everything down, so when Marluxia told Axel to kill him, the redhead did so but he hadn't stopped there, later convincing the Riku replica to kill Zexion and watching uncaringly as it happened.

Then Larxene along with Marluxia turned traitor by trying to use Sora to overthrow the organization. Axel had put a stop to it, released Naminé, and confronted Marluxia, only Marluxia used Naminé as a shield against him. Axel would have gone through her, to much was riding on Marluxia's death regardless of what happened to Naminé but Sora had been watching. Once again, Axel found himself fighting Sora. Sora with the blue eyes that reminded him so much of Roxas. In the end, Axel faked his own death and had just gotten out alive, explained most of what happened to Xemnas with a few twists and the white haired leader accepted Axel back.

Larxene was something Axel regretted. She didn't need to die. Her plans failed but Axel would have been willing to lie for her even if he doubted Xemnas would accept the story. Larxene probably realized she was finished no matter what she did. In a last desperate effort, she attacked Sora. She lost her life.

Roxas had changed around that time, finding he could summon duel keyblades and the reason he couldn't remember his death was because his other was still alive. Axel's blonde friend dug deeper then any of others dared and would contemplate their existence to all hours of the night. His face lost its energy and distant humor, becoming haunted, intense blue eyes lost their liveliness, turning unresponsive and detached.

A part of Axel wanted to tell Roxas to get over it. They were all nobodies and even if Roxas was special, they were all in the same boat, dead in a sense but Roxas failed to acknowledge it. Everyone else had, even if Xemnas was trying to change it. Axel wanted to voice his opinion to the blonde but he was never able to. All it took was one look into his friend's face and Axel knew he would do anything to help him so instead, Axel listened intently to every word Roxas said, doing his best to respond and reassure him, never once complaining when Roxas robbed him of much needed sleep. There were many nights Roxas would sit in Axel's room, to talk or just stare unseeingly at the walls.

Axel was drug out from his recollection by the sound of rushing air and he quickly jolted his head forward to see the swirling purple and black of a portal. Feeling a surge of panic, he immediacy drew out his chakrams in preparation for a fight. He didn't think it had been enough time for one the organization members to find them yet but Axel didn't know of anyone else it could be.

The portal closed and out of it stepped a familiar blonde haired girl. Axel was more then surprised and a bit taken back to see Naminé standing in front of him. He didn't know what happened to the girl after Castle Oblivion and the last time they met hadn't been under the best of circumstances. Axel never really expected to see her again. Like the keyblade master Naminé had seemed to vanish off the face of the earth. However, Axel couldn't help his relived sigh, realizing there was on threat.

Naminé was looking up at him, blinking almost owlishly with confusion evident on her face. "Axel?"

"Hey Naminé. Long time no see," He returned casually.

Naminé tilted her head slightly as if she was studying him. Her perplexed expression only deepened. "What…what are you… doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

Naminé looked down to the ground and started to absently pick at one of her fingernails. "I was…that is….I was helping DIZ and Riku with…" The blonde's voice was coming out shakier with every word she spoke and she was continuing to fidget.

Axel turned his face away from her, crossing his arms, and letting his back lean against the entrance to the lab, glancing at her through the corner of his eyes. "It's alright. You don't have to say anything else."

Naminé looked back up at him. "Alright…"

"So, you've been here all this time? Protecting the keyblade master huh?"

"Yes"

"That seems fitting somehow."

"Axel…What happened?" Naminé asked softly.

"I wish I knew, I've been trying to figure that out myself all day."

"Something went wrong didn't it. That's why you're here. Something happened to Riku." The blonde's voice was laced with fear and apprehension.

Axel turned his head so he was looking fully at her, feeling regret staring into her worried eyes. When Axel helped Naminé escape from her room in Castle Oblivion, she was distressed and torn. He had watched as she ran to her newly opened door, like she was clawing her way out of a grave, the concept of freedom shinning through her face, almost too much for her. Axel had told her to do what she thought was right and Naminé listened, went with her non-existent heart, and helped Sora. Axel was now feeling very contradictory, standing here ignoring his gut instinct to intervene with whatever Roxas was doing. "Yeah, something happened." He said slowly. "Look Naminé, Roxas is inside. I know you don't really know him but I think you should go talk to him. You might have better luck then I did."

"I will" Naminé said, nodding eagerly, quickly running to the front of the lab but before she was about to enter she glanced back at Axel. "What about you?"

Axel stepped away from the wall and walked forward a few feet, stretching his arms over his head and calling forth a portal at the same time. "I'm going back for Riku. Tell Roxas to wait up for me alright? I shouldn't be gone long"

Naminé gave him a brief smile before she disappeared inside the lab. Axel not wanting to waste any more time, followed suit and let the portal close around him as he vanished back to The World That Never Was.

0o0o0o0

Roxas stood in front of Sora's egg shaped sleeping chamber. He'd spent months of hearing about the magnificent, do no wrong, and heroic keyblade master, had spent countless days in turmoil and wonder about him. After so long, he was finally here. Ever since he learned he was different and that he could wield keyblades, he'd thought about and envisioned meeting his other many times, risking everything to find him.

Xemnas told him once that above all else he was never to come into contact with the keyblade master, saying it was highly dangerous but never elaborating on why. Roxas now knew the reasoning behind it. If the two of them merged together, Sora would be complete and that could potentially destroy all of the organization. Roxas couldn't say much to that, he was here never being that great at listening but then Xemnas was the one who told him about Sora in the first place. Right after Castle Oblivion, the head of the organization gave him just enough information to leave him hungry for more, to seek his other out. Xemnas was contradictory and it was confusing. Roxas shook his head, pushing the thoughts from his mind, it wasn't important anymore.

Seeing Sora like this wasn't at all what Roxas anticipated. The blonde had thought they would be able to talk to each other, fight if need be, and Roxas would learn the secrets. Instead, it was like Sora was in a coma, vulnerable and unaware. It left Roxas feeling disappointed like all he'd done had been for nothing. The only thing he could do was stand in a pure white room and watch Sora breath. Then he never foresaw that DIZ would try to make them merge together either.

He and Sora didn't look much alike but Roxas felt as if he was looking into a mirror and seeing another side of himself. There was also a strange sense of detachment. Roxas could feel a pull at the center of his stomach, becoming stronger with every moment he waited, and could feel something in his mind gently whispering and beckoning him to move closer, making him feel hazy as if he wasn't all there but there was something else, screaming at him to resist, to stay away, knowing that if he did, if he came closer, he'd lose himself.

Then Roxas felt a warm sensation form from behind his eyes, traveling down his arms and neck. It was overwhelming, making his every nerve sear with white heat and taking root inside his skull. Roxas felt as if his mind was being split open but there was no pain only the rising heat. He heard an unknown yet oddly familiar voice echo from somewhere inside him. _I've been having these strange thoughts lately. Like is any of this for real or not? _Then came the fragmented memories, flashing before his eyes.

_He was laying stretched out on the beach. There was soft sand at his back and a cool surf at his feet, a redheaded girl was standing over him, looking down into his face. "C'mon get up Sora! You lazy bum!"_

_He was running through the sand, trying to catch up to a silver haired boy who was a few feet in front of him but he wasn't having much luck. The boy turned his head to smirk at him. "Giving up already?"_

_He was on the beach again, only this time he was sitting on an awkwardly bent tree. The boy and the girl were with him, all three of them looking out to sea and watching the setting sun. The silver haired boy seemed troubled by something, having a far away expression in his eyes. "If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one?"_

_He was in a small cave, alone and looking at a rough drawing on a rocky wall, a cold and deep voice echoed out of nowhere. "This world has been connected. " _

_He stood up, visibly startled, whipping his head around, he could not find the source of whoever had spoken. "Who-who's there?" _

_The voice came again. "Tied to the darkness"_

_He was sitting on a dock with the redheaded girl. It was nearing the end of another day and they were watching the ocean. Everything around them was cast in deep orange, yellow, and red. The girl stood, turning to him. "Sora, don't ever change. " _

_It was night. The silver haired boy was standing in front of him with his hand outstretched. A dark puddle formed under the boy's feet, darkness coming to lick at his legs and pull him down but he looked unafraid. "The door has opened" The boy said with confidence. _

_He didn't understand what the boy meant but knew he had to get to him somehow and reached for his hand but wasn't quite able to make their fingers touch._

_He was in the cave again. The redheaded girl was staring at a wall where a looked door was imbedded in rock. She turned her head to him. Something was wrong, her face blank, eyes glazed over. "So..ra…"_

_The door suddenly flew open. There was a gush of powerful wind and the girl was thrown backwards. He opened his arms to catch her but her body passed right through him. She vanished. _

_The cold and deep voice came back. "You understand nothing."_

Roxas fell to his knees, clutching his head. Those weren't his memories. They couldn't possibly be. They belonged to Sora and Roxas didn't want any part in them. Sora was born in light, growing up on a tropical beach and spending his days swimming and playing in the sun. There were people that cared about him. He had two best friends that he would go to the end of the world to find and in return, his best friends wouldn't even hesitate to do the same for him. Sora had feelings, emotions, glory, a hero's life, and importance. Sora possessed a heart.

Roxas didn't have anything. He may have been born into Twilight Town but his first memories were of darkness, rain, and a cold street. He was alone from the first moment he opened his eyes, had been alive for hardly a year but in that short time, he'd seen blood and death, heard the screams of heartless, learned to fight with deadly blades, killed to survive. Roxas was told he didn't have emotions, that he wasn't supposed to have a soul only an all-consuming instinct to stay alive.

Sora had inadvertently created him. Roxas went through all this because of Sora, existed because of Sora. Everything that happened, always came back to the keyblade master. Sora had everything when Roxas had nothing. Roxas hated him.

Roxas picked himself up from off the floor, the burning feeling completely gone. He could still feel the pulling sensation but it was dimming. The blonde would finish this and as he told DIZ, would make it so there was only one of them, like there should have been in the first place. Roxas would be the real one, knew there had to be more to life then simply existing. He wasn't something that could just be forgotten about, would not allow himself to fade away before he even had a chance at life.

"You have no idea what you've put me through do you?" Roxas spoke to Sora. "That's alright I'll fix it."

Even through the hatred Roxas didn't want Sora to die, he never did but what DIZ said frightened him and Roxas wasn't thinking clearly, functioning completely on fear and paranoia, since somewhere he knew every word DIZ spoke was right. After so long he had an answer, to be complete he would have to merge with Sora but his other didn't need him to live. Sora spent over a year with out him, continued on his journey, made it though Castle Oblivion, probably hadn't realized there was anything missing. Fate was cruel and now neither one of them could exist at the same time, would never be able to again and Roxas almost wanted to give in to the pulling, to the feeling of being whole, let himself cease to exist.

There was only one thing to do, destroy the temptation before he had the chance to follow through with it and if he didn't do this, if he left Sora like this, he knew that he would eventually because it was inevitable. But now it would be so easy just to end it all, end everything, the sleepless nights, the torment, the emptiness, and the wondering. All it would take was one blow to crack the skull, to bash in the defenseless and sleeping face. It would be over in seconds and he would never have to go through any of this again. Roxas reached Sora, lifting the keyblade above his shoulder.

"Roxas!" His name was screamed piercingly and someone was frantically running toward him. Roxas didn't look away but felt a rush of air before there was suddenly a blonde haired girl between him and the pod, her arms outstretched, standing protectively in front of Sora. Her sapphire eyes glistening wetly but looking up at him unwavering.

She shook her head in denial, her voice tear stained and airy. "Roxas no you can't do this. You'll be lost forever. Please Roxas. Please don't be lost. You can't. No…no…no"

It then dawned on Roxas who this girl was. She was Naminé from the tower, the witch, a nobody among nobodies. Naminé had the power to erase and manipulate memories, could strip down a person's identity and enslave their mind at will, was the girl Vexen experimented with and Marluxia talked about. She'd been locked inside a white room and used by the organization in an attempt to control Sora. Roxas had never seen her before but he'd heard enough about her. Naminé was also said to have disappeared. Roxas hadn't really paid attention to story but the organization was obliviously mistaken.

Then there was something else about her. Roxas felt a connection to her as if he should know her somehow, almost like what he felt with Riku but stronger. Roxas didn't understand the feeling and he didn't like it.

"You're Naminé," He stated.

The blonde haired girl continued to shake her head as if she hadn't heard him. "Please Roxas. You can't do this. Please"

"What are you doing here?" Roxas tried again.

Naminé stilled herself, looking down to the floor but she didn't answer. Roxas soon realized she had no intention too. She stayed silent seeming guilty.

Something DIZ said came back to him, _with the help of Naminé_. Roxas felt his annoyance build. "Did you know what DIZ and Riku were planning to do to me?"

"Yes" Naminé whispered without looking up.

"You were helping them. Weren't you?" Roxas's voice came out harsher then he meant it too. Even though this was the first time he'd ever seen Naminé, he felt oddly betrayed.

Naminé glanced back up at him with startling honesty shinning through her eyes. "No! I was going to help you"

Roxas didn't know how to reply to that so he didn't even try. There was silence for a few seconds before he spoke, calmly but deadly. "Get out of the way Naminé"

"Roxas I didn't agree with what DIZ and Riku were doing but I can't let you do this!"

Roxas tightened his grip on the keyblade. "You think you can stop me?"

Naminé took a couple of steps backwards so she was shielding Sora more with her body, arms still outstretched. "No, but I couldn't live with myself for not tying. To get to him you'll have to go through me."

Roxas advanced towards her, the keyblade glinting and threatening over his shoulder. "This is your last chance."

Naminé stood her ground, her face hardening. "Then what are you going to do Roxas? Kill me too!?"

Roxas reached out his free arm and wrapped his hand around one of her small wrists, pulling her towards him. "No, there's no reason too."

Naminé flinched in surprise and tried to wrench her wrist back. "Let go! Let go!"

Roxas did not relent and Naminé pushed at his shoulder, digging her feet into the ground, struggling madly to free herself, her efforts in vain, as Roxas easily dragged her in front of him until their foreheads were nearly touching. "Besides we are already dead remember?" He whispered into her ear, his breath moving a few strands of pale blonde hair.

With a quick jerk of his arm, Roxas threw her slight body away from him. He heard Naminé hit the floor from somewhere far off but he didn't turn away to see where. With no more distractions between him and Sora, he raised the keyblade for the final time.

"Roxas…" It was Naminé, her voice wavering and faint.

Roxas quickly glanced over his shoulder. Naminé was sprawled out on the floor by a far wall, holding herself up with her forearms, twin streaks of tears running down her face, and staring directly at him. She shook her head. "Roxas…no…"

Roxas turned back to Sora and ignored her, the keyblade over his head, poised and ready to strike. He swung it forward but it only descended a couple of inches before he abruptly stopped.

Roxas gazed into Sora's still face. The keyblade master's eyes were closed peacefully and spiky dark brown hair brushed slightly against his flushed cheeks, face looking almost delicate, and his body limp and suspended inside the pod. Sora looked so alive, as if he could wake up at any moment, as if he was just waiting for something. Roxas knew exactly what that something was. The blonde felt the pulling sensation start to take effect again, making him feel light headed with bliss and his stomach churn at the same time. His hands shook on the keyblade.

Roxas knew if he did this, he would be destroying apart of himself, had told himself he didn't care. Whatever happened to him afterwards was trivial as long at the threat was gone. Now moments away from accomplishing his goal Roxas realized he couldn't go through with it. He could feel himself inside Sora and running through Sora there were emotions Roxas only half experienced before; hope, strength, pain, fear, and desperation, everything bleeding together until Roxas couldn't tell where he ended and where Sora began. Roxas was hardly able to breathe.

The blonde shut his eyes and clenched his teeth. He brought the keyblade down to the flimsy surface of the pod but instead of bringing it onto his other's head, Roxas threw it harshly to the side where it bounced off a far wall with a ringing chime and fell harmlessly to floor. All Roxas could do was stand with his eyes closed while breathing hard, feeling frustration, anger, and another emotion that he couldn't identify. He formed his hands into fists, trying to force the feelings back, only wanting everything over with.

From the side Naminé picked herself up from off the floor and stood shakily to her feet. Roxas could hear her stumbling before she broke into a half pained run. From the corner of his eyes, he watched as she came towards him, not knowing what she was intending but not trying to move out of her way, stunned when she collided with his back, her sudden weight against him making him involuntary step forward. He felt one of her arms encircle his waist and her other come across his chest, fisting her hands in his blood stained robe as she hugged him from behind, pressing her forehead against his shoulder blade and Roxas could feel her trembling as her body shook with sobs. She was saying something but her voice was so low and jumbled, Roxas couldn't make it out.

Roxas didn't know how to react. No one had ever touched him like this before and he felt uncomfortable in her hold. His body was ridged but Naminé didn't seem to notice, her arms tightening even further around him, quickly seeming to calm down and he could vaguely hear her words, muffled against his shoulder, her voice wavering. "I knew you couldn't do it Roxas…I knew it…I knew it."

Roxas wondered why he didn't push her away, wasn't sure if he even wanted to. His body was starting to relax against her. It was almost nice in a way. All he wanted to do was focus on breathing.

Naminé spoke again, stronger this time. "I know it hurts. I know how alone you feel but it will be alright. You'll see everything will be all right."

Roxas didn't understand what she meant. Nothing could be all right. "How?"

"You can join with Sora and be complete. You'll live through Sora, be able to feel all of his emotions. You'll never be alone again. Sora will make everything right."

Roxas felt an icy grip where his heart should be, feeling deceived, Naminé's words stinging and cutting. Wrenching himself out of her arms, he spun her angrily so they were face to face, tightly gripping her upper arms. "No! I'm not going to merge with him. I won't let myself fade away. Especially for him. I won't! I won't!"

Naminé looked at him out of hollowed eyes, reaching a hand towards his face. "Roxas…Please you're only denying it. We both know you have to do this."

Roxas pushed her away and Naminé stumbled backwards as he fell to his knees, clutching his shoulders. Everything from this day was starting to take its toll on him; the fighting, the blood, and meeting his other. He was tired of it all and Naminé was only confirming what he already knew. "I won't let myself die" Roxas breathed. "I can't"

Naminé walked back over to him, kneeling beside him out of understanding, close with out touching. She didn't say anything. There was no need too.

It was then the door opened and Axel entered, taking in the scene, letting his eyes run over the three egg shaped sleeping chambers and then to Roxas and Naminé kneeled on the floor. "What…?"

Axel didn't have time to finish as Roxas rose quickly to his feet, broke into a run and pushed callously past him, running outside the white room. Axel glanced after his friend and then back to Naminé. "I have the feeling I just missed something."

Naminé looked up at him. "Did you find Riku?" she asked hopefully.

A fleeting look of distress passed over Axel's face before he answered. "Sorry, I went back but there was nothing there. I'm not sure what happened. It's like he vanished or something…" Axel trailed off looking back in the direction Roxas had gone.

"Oh" Naminé said, placing her hands in her lap and looking miserable. She glanced at Axel, meeting his dark green eyes. "I think things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. You should go after him."

"Yeah, I would stay and ask if you were okay and all that but…"

"I know"

Axel sighed finally giving into his building unease. "Roxas!" he called before he chased after his friend.

Axel didn't have to search very long for Roxas, finding him in a long hallway right outside Sora's room, kneeling again with his hands over his shoulders, his head lowered toward the ground, and breathing strangely as if he couldn't get enough air into his lungs. Axel walked over, sitting down beside him. "I'm guessing whatever happened. You couldn't go through with it?"

Roxas didn't seem to hear. There was silence for a moment and Axel didn't push the question. Then Roxas suddenly spoke, voice strained and boarding with a mixture of rage and pain. "I hate him Axel. I hate him so much."

"Hate who? Sora?"

Roxas only curled into himself more as he nodded shakily.

Axel leaned forward, placing a hand on Roxas's back, feeling him shuddering, and began to rub soothing circles, doing his best to calm the blonde. "Are you alright?"

Roxas came out of whatever phase he'd been in, straightening himself and hitting Axel's hand away almost violently. "Don't touch me!"

Axel hastily sat back, holding his hands out in front of him. "Right, Sorry just stop with the dramatics already. You're starting to scare me." He said with a slight trace of playful taunting.

Roxas sighed leaning back against the wall and staring up at the blue-gray ceiling. "Yeah"

"So what did DIZ want with you anyway?"

Roxas was silent, looking as if he was debating on answering before giving in. "He wanted me to merge with Sora"

"Merge with him?" Axel asked skeptically.

"Yeah, we would become one so Sora could awaken. Then he could go play hero and everything." Roxas said with a minor sarcastic tone.

Axel blinked taking in the information, looking like he was seriously considering the idea before his expression quickly changed into anger. "That is the most crazy thing… You told him off didn't you?"

Roxas glared

Axel smiled. "Right, Good."

The blonde stood up from his position by the wall and quickly began to make his way out of the lab. Axel watched for a moment before standing up as well. "So" Axel said to no one in particular. "It looks like we're playing another game of follow the leader."

0o0o0o0

Axel found himself once again waiting outside for Roxas. They were in Twilight Town and Axel was leaning against a brick wall outside of some gift shop while Roxas was inside using the bathroom. Axel had peeled off his gloves some time ago but they were still both dressed in Organization XIII attire and he wondered what the poor employee must have thought when Roxas walked in with his blood stained robe. Luckily, it was very late and Twilight Town seemed practically deserted. This shop had been one of the few places actually still opened. Axel tapped the back of his heel against the wall in boredom before he heard a bell chime and the shop door come open. Axel looked up as Roxas walked out.

The blonde had taken off his cloak and it was now hanging over his shoulder, leaving Roxas in only dark blue jeans and a thin white T-shirt. The jeans were frayed and stained with black splotches from grime and blood. The T-shirt was cut and ripped from where the keyblade had sliced through his cloak and the cotton was tainted pink in places. Roxas had washed his face and arms, removing most of the dried blood, his hair still slightly damp. Various shallow and deep scratches ran up and down his arms, there was a vivid black bruise around his right wrist and a varying degree of purple and black bruises around his neck that stood out plain against the white turned pink T-shirt.

"Don't you look great." Axel commented.

Roxas stepped over to Axel and leaned against the wall beside him. "Yeah, well you betray the organization, fight an army of heartless, battle and lose to a dog, and meet your other all in one day. Then lets see how good you come out of it."

Axel suppressed a laugh. "Point taken. Wait a dog?"

"Riku"

"Right"

There was comfortable silence for a minute, both Axel and Roxas lost in their own thoughts from the past few hours. Then Axel broke it with a casual air to his voice. "You know I fought with Sora in Castle Oblivion. I spoke with him too."

Roxas turned his head, looking intently at Axel. "What was he like?"

"Happy, optimistic. Your complete and polar opposite."

Roxas shrugged. "That makes sense he is my other."

Axel lifted a hand to his chin and his eyes crinkled at the edges, seeming deep in thought, when he spoke again, his voice came out subdued. "There was one thing you had in common. You fight the same. You both have this undefeated look in your eyes. It's so similar it's scary. I would hate to see what would happen if you two ever fought each other"

"Like that can happen now" Roxas said bitterly.

Axel put his hands behind his head and sighed. "What are you going to do now Roxas?"

Roxas's expression was blank as if he hadn't thought of the question. There was a long pause before he answered. "What would you say if I wanted to lay low for a bit, have an attempt at a normal life?"

Axel tilted his head to get a better look at the blonde. "You're serious? I would say you're almost as crazy as DIZ. You and normal don't go together."

"I figure I could stay here at Twilight Town." Roxas continued, not rising to Axel's last comment. "It's as good a place to start as any and if the organization makes a move I'd most likely know about it since I'd be close to Sora."

Axel looked at him uncertainly. "You are serious?"

"I know I don't have much of a life Axel. It's only a half existence but it's all I have. I want to live it. I'm not ready to let it go."

Axel put his hands back out in front of him and crossed his arms. "Right I know the feeling. Okay then, I'm up for that. Lets stay at Twilight Town."

"Alone, there's no reason for us both to leave the organization" Roxas said with an undertone of irritation in his voice.

"The organization can go screw themselves. They come second. I made my choice when I followed you. I want to stay with you."

"Well don't, I want you to leave" Roxas snapped.

"Do you even know what you're in for Roxas?" The redhead asked unaffected by his friend's rapid change in attitude. "You've only known the organization. You can't remember anything of your past life. You have no idea how to survive out here."

Roxas glared. "I don't need to be protected! I made it in Organization XIII. I'll make it here."

Axel found his voice rising despite his best effort to control it. "You can't just decide to quit the organization and drop off the face of the earth, then start a new life and just do it!"

"I just did." Roxas said. The blonde's voice was chipped and evenly matched Axels'. "This is what I want to do. I want my own life and you're not in it. Nothing from the organization is. I never wanted you here in the first place just like I never wanted to be your friend. Get. Lost. Got it memorized?"

This wasn't the first time Roxas had said something like that to Axel. Roxas was used to pushing Axel away. The redhead usually laughed it off or disregarded it completely. The blonde would push even harder and Axel would push back. It was how their friendship started. Only this time Axel was deeply scowling at him, clenching his hands with his fingernails digging into his palms hard enough to draw blood. Roxas realized he'd just went to far.

Axel angrily rose a fist and viciously hit the brick wall between them, his glove coming back torn, his knuckles scraped and raw. "After all I went through for you, I'm so sick of the way you're treating me. This is why you're always going to end up alone!'

Roxas turned his head away saying nothing. He wanted Axel to leave, it had been partly why he said that. Now that it was over the blonde wasn't sure if he regretted his words or not. He had no desire to try to resolve the situation. Instead, Roxas waited for the sound of Axel's retreating footsteps, dreading the sound and welcoming it at the same time. Half of him wanted Axel to be gone and have it done with but the other half still wanted the sense of normalcy Axel gave him. The feeling was strange. However, the redhead remained standing where he was and there was only uneasy silence between the two of them.

"I'm sorry," Axel finally said, his voice back to normal but sounding empty. " I shouldn't have said that. You're sure this is what you want?"

Roxas looked back at him with mild relief. "Yes, for now at least"

Axel reached into his robe and pulled out a small black pouch, reaching over he grabbed Roxas's wrist, placing it in his hand before quickly releasing him. "Here, it's all I have but it should last you for a little while."

The pouch felt smooth and velvety on Roxas's fingers. The blonde raised it in front of his face, dangling it from a string. "What is it?"

"Munny, folks around here kind of like you to pay for things"

Roxas pocketed the munny bag and glared up at Axel. "Shut up! I knew that. Besides who needs munny when you can just teleport in somewhere and teleport out?"

Axel gave a half grin, the liveliness returning to his eyes. "True, but it's not good to do that so many times. They'll catch on and run you out of town. Believe me I know."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "You would."

Axel leaned away from the wall and flexed his badly stinging hand. "Right, so maybe I'll go back to the Organization. I can keep them off your trail. I don't know how I'm going to explain all this to Xemnas, but hey I'm Axel. I'll think of something."

Roxas met Axel's eyes, a placid expression on the blonde's face. "You'd do that?"

Axel gave a full fledge smile. "Sure, I don't care what you say. You're still my best friend. So I guess this is good bye then?"

"I guess" Roxas said slowly.

Axel placed a hand on Roxas's shoulder. There was an awkward pause then the redhead bent down slightly and leaned forward, not getting very far before Roxas placed a hand between them. "If you're going to hug me I'll break you neck" Roxas said his face looking completely serious.

Axel blinked and leaned back with a thunderstruck expression. "Yeah…"

"I'm kidding Axel." Roxas said suddenly with a slight grin. "I'll break your arm."

Axel allowed himself a smile and laughed heavily, squeezing the blonde's shoulder before letting go. "I'm really going to miss you."

Roxas nodded the grin still on his lips as he watched Axel make his way to the edge of the sidewalk and call fourth a portal. "Hey, don't think this is final. If you need anything at all come find me. Just make sure you stay away from the organization. I'll do whatever I can to help you. Alright? Anything at all. Got it memorized?"

Roxas didn't have time to reply before the portal completely engulfed Axel and the redhead disappeared. Roxas continued to stand against the brick wall, taking him a little while to realize he was completely alone. He no longer belonged to Organization XIII. He was starting a new life and at long last living for himself and not others. There was no immediate danger of dying in Twilight Town. Here, Roxas wasn't a ruthless killer of heartless who could summon keyblades and do the impossible. He was a fifteen-year-old kid, with no place to go and who only had the clothes on his back and the munny Axel had given him. There hadn't been time to take anything from the Castle That Never Was.

Roxas could have stood outside the shop for seconds or hours. He wasn't sure. This new concept burned through his mind and time felt irrelevant. Nothing felt completely real yet. Still if there was one thing Roxas knew he could do it was survive, knowing whatever happened he would make it. The place he ended up in didn't matter.

Roxas sighed, stepping away from the wall. It looked like he was in the main part of Twilight Town, in a plaza with several shops and what looked like a mall on his left. Roxas walked towards the mall, not taking him long to reach it. Roxas saw it was obviously closed but it would be a good idea to stick close by it. Even though he'd never done it before, Roxas needed to go shopping, had to start somewhere and he needed clothes.

Roxas found a small wooden bench directly in front of the mall, seeing it would be a convenient place to spend the remainder of the night, he laid down on it a bit more heavily then he intended to. The bench was hard and uncomfortable pressed against his skin and didn't do much for his aching muscles, being a far cry from his bed in the World That Never Was. Roxas put his arms behind his head, using them as a pillow, the blonde looked up to the sky.

It was hard to tell if it was night or day in Twilight Town since it was always cast in pink, yellow, and orange shadows. The only indication that it was night was the slight darkening of the sky. He wasn't completely unfamiliar with Twilight Town, having been back and fourth on a select few missions, mostly with Axel but still it would take time getting used too.

Roxas felt his eyes growing heavy, shifting he curled onto his side, letting his eyes fall shut, could feel himself quickly drifting off, realizing for the first time how tired he was. His last thought before he was out to the world was that he hoped he didn't dream of Sora.


	5. Move Along

Notes: This is probably going to be the most boring chapter out of the whole story. This chapter is a lot more light hearted then the others and I actually tried to work in a bit of humor. This is basically my attempt on actually trying to do something with the Disney characters. The next chapter will make up for it though, promise!

I know I say this every time but I replaced the other chapters again. I mainly just fixed some spelling. I just realized I've been spelling Xemnas wrong this entire time. I also changed more of the dialog around in chapter 2. One more thing I used quite a few quotes in here from the game. It's been a while since I played Kingdom Hearts, especially the first game. Cid was the one with the gummi ship right?

Okay so! Thank you so so so much for the reviews!

Kioko Yasu: Thanks so much for offering to beta for me. I read through the chapters at least two times and run spell check but I still don't catch everything. It would be wonderful if you could. Is it okay if I e-mail you? Please let me know.

Chapter 5: Move Along

DIZ forced his eyes open, his vision blurring and he blinked a few times in an attempt to clear it. There was a burning throbbing at the back of his head, his every muscle was ridged with soreness, and his stomach felt as if it wanted to turn itself inside out. All DIZ could do was lie still.

The bandaged man focused on steadying his twisting nerves, taking deep breaths and forcing himself to relax. Slowly his vision stopped swimming, the nausea began to fade, and the lightheadedness lessened, his mind once more able to function, a low groan passed his lips. DIZ felt another's presence beside him then slim fingers on his arm as a hand curled into the crimson red material of his sleeve.

There was a soft and familiar voice. "Are-are you waking up?"

DIZ realized he was looking up at the slate grey ceiling of his lab and he was splayed out on the floor but he couldn't remember how'd he gotten there. His head was pillowed on something soft and up off the cold ground, his sluggish mind recognizing a pale face above his own, wide and glassy blue eyes staring down at him.

"Naminé?" DIZ questioned in a hoarse whisper.

Naminé nodded, her expression one of concern but she looked very uneasy. "Yes, it's me."

The memories of the recently past events came back to DIZ all at once, hitting him hard like a tidal wave. Roxas had been here, asked questions, destroyed his work, and intended to harm the keyblade master. DIZ had tried to stop him when Roxas brought a keyblade down onto his head and everything faded to black. The cloaked man's lethargy changed at once to panic and overwhelming dread as he quickly sat up but only making it to his elbows before the world around him started to spin. Naminé moved swiftly away, distancing herself from him by a few feet, but still kneeling.

"Where's Roxas!?" DIZ shouted, in rising blind alarm and fury.

Naminé lowered her head, looking down at her knees. "He's gone." Her voice as calm as always.

The blonde haired girl's reaction was not helping DIZ. If anything, it was making him more panicked. "What did he do? The keyblade master, did he hurt the keyblade master!?" There was no bite to his words only a frantic need to know.

Naminé was glancing at him, her face expressionless, the cloaked man's reaction not seeming to faze her. She leisurely shook her head. "No, he was going to but he didn't. He just left."

DIZ sighed, instant relief reaching his face. Closing his eyes, he willed his surroundings to remain motionless. He would check on the keyblade master to reassure himself as soon as he was sure he could stand, placing his palms on the ground and helping himself to sit up, DIZ felt something soft brush the tip of a gloved finger, reaching behind him, he pulled a large white towel from up off the floor and in front of his face. It's what his head had been lying on and it was streaked with red spots, feeling the back of his head DIZ found his facemask was still on but the wound had been taken care of, no longer bleeding, and nearly to the point of being healed. DIZ was surprised, as far as he knew Naminé didn't have any healing capabilities.

"You did this?" DIZ asked, holding the towel in his hands. As soon as he voiced the question, he regretted it. Of course, Naminé had done it. There wasn't anyone else in the room. The cloaked man wasn't one to ask about things he already knew and promptly blamed it on the headache.

Naminé didn't reply, watching him silently. Her eyes on him, making him slightly uncomfortable. DIZ didn't try to say anything else to her. It was an unwritten rule that he and Naminé spoke to each other as little as possible. Naminé was nothing to him, a nobody with devastating powers, who he needed for his plan to succeed and that was all. Naminé understood that and she never said anything. It was always Riku that acted as the catalyst between them. DIZ let Riku deal with her and relate information if needed. The silver haired teen never seemed to mind but Riku was gone and Naminé was still staring at him.

"No I didn't, we're not alone." Naminé said so suddenly and so faintly that DIZ almost thought he imagined it.

"What?"

The blonde's eyes flickered downward before she turned her head toward the broken wreckage that used to be several computers. DIZ followed her gaze, eyes landing instantly on a small figure that looked to be waiting patiently. It was hard to see with the dim light of the lab but in the amidst of the shattered computer parts, DIZ could make out a black robe, and large round ears.

In spite of everything, DIZ allowed a small smile to cross his lips at seeing King Mickey. There was something about the mouse king that made everything feel as if would be alright. In his presence, you felt hope and security. The world outside could be raging with a storm and darkness but as long as he was by your side, you'd feel as if you were standing in the brightest light. "My friend" DIZ choked out.

Mickey snapped to attention and was beside him in a moment. DIZ clasped their fingers together and Mickey gripped back just at strong. Neither one of them noticed when Naminé stood up soundlessly, leaving the room.

The mouse king smiled. "Hi ya Ansem"

DIZ gave a genuine chuckle. "You'll never stop calling me that will you?"

Mickey shrugged and his smile broadened. "Call it the right of an old friend."

DIZ carefully straightened himself until he was sitting up more fully and not leaning so heavily on the ground. Wincing, he took his hand back from Mickey and placed it to his still throbbing head.

Mickey was watching him intently with a worried expression on his face. "I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner."

DIZ lifted a hand for silence and shook his head. "I don't even want to hear of it. This was your fault least of all."

The mouse king folded his arms, looking all the more regretful. "Yes, but still I may have been able to prevent this"

"Do you know what happened then?" The cloaked man asked. "You know what Roxas has done?"

Mickey nodded. "Yes, you've been out for awhile. Ever since I arrived which was about two hours ago. Naminé explained it to me."

The bandaged man's eyes became noticeably troubled, his voice coming out rushed and strained. "My friend, I think Riku may have been killed."

Mickey looked to be in deep thought for a moment as if he was seriously considering it. "Hmmm what happened exactly? Naminé wasn't to sure"

"Roxas did something to him. When I talked with Roxas, he wouldn't go into details but from what I gathered, I doubt Riku survived it."

"But you don't know for sure." Mickey said. "You actually didn't see what happened."

"No" DIZ relented

"Then it's best if we don't draw conclusions for now. Riku's strong. Anything could have taken place. We won't know for certain until we reach him or…"

"Find his body" DIZ said grimly. "If there is even one left."

Mickey sighed. "Well, one thing I know is we won't get anywhere if we think like that."

DIZ let his hand fall from where he'd placed it on his forehead, still feeling a bit unsteady but the pain in his head was starting to decrease. He breathed deeply. "You're right of course."

The mouse king uncrossed his arms, a vague smile coming back to his face. "It'll work out. It always does one way or another." Mickey then glanced to the side and blinked as if he just realized something before proceeding to look around the lab.

"What's wrong?" DIZ asked

"What happened to Naminé?"

"She's probably with the keyblade master." DIZ replied automatically. "She usually goes into his room in her free time although not nearly as much as Riku…" DIZ trailed off at his mention of Riku's name before he quickly continued. "At any rate I do feel in obligation to check on the keyblade master."

"Of course!" Mickey said brightly. "Shall we then?"

DIZ climbed to his feet, placing his hand on the wall for support. The bandaged man faltered a little but was able to remain standing although the effort left him disorientated and gasping for breath. "Just give me a moment to get my bearings my friend. I'm not as young as I used to be."

0o0o0o0

To Naminé memories were like chains. If she closed her eyes and concentrated on anyone, she could see the chain spinning around a person's soul. The chains were blurry and they could pulse with light, darkness, or a mixture of both. Sometimes the links were fused together and it was hard to tell where the chain stopped but Naminé always managed to find a way. They were made up of all different colors. Donald's had been dusky purple, Goofy's was dark green, and the Riku replica's had been as white as the walls in her room at Castle Oblivion. Sora's was the most vibrant of all, a blinding rich gold that shone and glistened above all the others.

The segments of the chains were interwoven and made up a greater whole, each one fragile and affecting the other. If Naminé focused completely on a chain, she found she could manipulate the links, even completely replace or move the connections around. If she wanted, she could sever the links and make them disappear entirely. The more she was made to practice it, the easier it became. She'd nearly destroyed Sora's chain, wrapped her fingers around the delicate bright gold and pulled.

She could still see him in the simulated version of Destiny Islands as he ran to a fake memory of herself, clasping her hand in both of his, promising to protect her. The look in his eyes was of happiness and regret for not finding her sooner. Someone like Sora came around once in a million years. She knew he was only acting that way because she exposed his mind and he didn't understand but when she was finally able to break through to him, really talk to him, to be near him, she'd felt a sheer sense of relief and belonging. Only she didn't have a right to feel that way. That was for Kairi.

It was easy to walk away from DIZ and Mickey as they were too occupied to be aware of her. Naminé was as she described herself 'like a shadow', hardly there, the palest ghost, slipping away and reappearing without hardly anyone noticing. The organization and DIZ disregarded her, even Riku had to an extent. The only one she couldn't escape from was Sora, her thoughts always being wrapped around him. It was not surprising when once more Naminé found herself in his room with her sketchbook clutched tightly to her chest.

Hope felt as if it were lost. Roxas was gone and Sora would continue to sleep. There was no way to tell when or if Roxas would come back and if he did eventually decide to merge with Sora, but judging from his reaction Naminé didn't think it would be for a long time. The blonde haired girl felt split in half. She wanted to be there for Roxas. They were both different from the other nobodies. Naminé hadn't gone through the same things he had but she felt like she could understand him at least somewhat, felt connected to him, knew what is was like to be alone. On the other hand, she couldn't abandoned Sora, wanting so badly for the keyblade master to be alright, for him to wake up, wishing there was anything she could do but without Roxas that was now impossible.

She'd given Sora the choice if he wanted to keep the memories he made at Castle Oblivion or have her restore his old ones. When Sora told her he wanted his old memories back, he barely even hesitated with the choice. She understood but still felt saddened. It had been so hard to say goodbye to Sora and Donald and Goofy, her only friends. They would never remember Castle Oblivion, never remember her, even if Sora promised otherwise.

Naminé felt a cold stinging sensation in her chest where her heart should be as realization hit her. Her attention strayed from Sora to Donald and Goofy, focusing completely on the duck and dog, really looking at them for the first time. At Castle Oblivion, they had followed Sora loyally, protected him with the risk of their own lives and were with him with every step he took, the three of them hanging onto the same strand of dismal hope. Donald and Goofy slept for a year right beside Sora. The duck and the dog were true friends.

A small but certain smile crossed the blonde haired girl's lips. Sora needed Roxas to be complete and he needed Roxas to regain his memories but Donald and Goofy didn't. If she could awaken them, she would be able to at least undo some of what she caused, restore some promise. Donald and Goofy would not like having to go on without Sora, but they would learn to accept it. The duck and the dog were powerful and resourceful, maybe they could even find away to delay the inevitable destruction of the worlds that was to come deprived of the keyblade master. Most important Naminé knew if Sora could talk to her, he would want her to do this. Above all else, Sora didn't want his friends to suffer anymore then they had to. Donald and Goofy didn't deserve to remain asleep.

Naminé stepped forward, raising a green crayon to her sketchbook and began to draw. She closed her eyes, focusing hard. Almost instantly, she could see the familiar dusky purple and dark green chains, vibrant and glowing with a radiant force of life. After so long, Naminé spent trying to recover their memories, the chains were close to being whole but they weren't completely there. She wrapped her mind around them, working on speeding up the process, trying to complete the chains and piece Donald and Goofy back together. It was harder then she expected. Their chains were intertwined with Sora's like a thick braid, the colors blending together, all of them having gone through the same experience, that Naminé could barely distinguish them.

She forced herself to concentrate harder, bending the chains and warping them at her will, could feel it working but Naminé had never done something this difficult before and her world was quickly being over come by hazy pain, her head feeling as if it were being torn in half. Still she hung on and only drove herself to purge deeper, not allowing herself to let go, knowing she couldn't afford it. The sketchbook fell from her loosened grip. On it was a scribbled but finished picture of Donald and Goofy. The pain brought her to her knees.

0o0o0o0

DIZ and Mickey had just stepped out of the lab and entered the long corridor when they heard a shrill scream. They quickly glanced at each other, knowing it came from Sora's room and undoubtedly belonged to Naminé. At once, the mouse king broke into a run with DIZ staggering after him. They made it half way down the hallway before the scream came again, lower and more chocked. Mickey pressed himself to run faster.

The bandaged man could only think the worst. He didn't know what he would do if Roxas was back. The concept was doubtful but DIZ was too consumed with adrenaline and apprehension to think rationally at the moment. They reached the room only seconds later, Mickey throwing the door open, DIZ gasping behind him.

Nothing was out of place, still the same, except for Naminé. The nobody was on her knees in front of the three sleeping chambers, hands over her ears and fingers tightly tangled in her blonde hair. Her nose was bleeding, blood running down her lips and dripping from her chin, splashing and staining the white floor, her sketchbook beside her in a crumpled heap.

Mickey ran to her side, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Naminé what's happening?"

It was as if Naminé didn't hear him, her eyes shut tight and gritting her teeth in obvious pain, chanting something that DIZ couldn't make out and didn't want to get close enough to try.

Mickey seemed to figure it out though. Naminé shook her head as if she wanted to say something but she was beyond speech, her actions speaking louder then words when she hastily jerked away. Mickey immediately let her go and turned his head from her, attention instead becoming transfixed on the three egg shaped pods. "Oh" Mickey said softly. "I think I understand"

"Would you mind explaining it to me then?" DIZ asked from his place by the doorway.

"Well I believe she's trying too…" Mickey trailed off as Naminé came out of her abnormal trance.

The change was instant. One moment she'd been clutching her head and the next she looked completely fine as if nothing occurred at all. Naminé stood up from the floor although a bit shakily, reaching for her sketchbook and cradling it to her chest with one arm. The blonde wiped the blood from her nose with the back of her free hand, splattering even more of it onto the floor. DIZ was grateful when no more blood rushed to take its place.

"I'm sorry," Naminé said, her voice strained and a bit breathless. "I was trying to help. That's why I couldn't let you touch me. I had to focus"

Mickey grinned. "I knew it!'

"What were you doing?" DIZ asked.

"I wanted to awaken Donald and Goofy," Naminé said without turning around. "Sora needs Roxas but they don't. I was trying to speed up the process a little."

"You can do that? How?" DIZ questioned doubtfully.

"Because I want it. I put them to sleep and I can undo it at least partially."

"Did it work?" Mickey asked in awe, still watching the cambers. There was no trace that Donald and Goofy were awaking and Mickey's expression was wistful but there was also a fixed hardness to his eyes.

"I-I think so." Naminé said.

"You think so," DIZ repeated

Naminé turned her head towards him. "I'm not sure, I was trying to put their memories back but they aren't supposed to wake up before Sora. I've never attempted anything like this before and the three of them are connected. They share some of the same memories. It was…hard."

Naminé gave a brief smile, closed her eyes, clutched her sketchbook tighter to her chest, and stepped forward. "I'll see if it worked."

Time looked to stop around the blonde haired nobody. There was a thick droning sound and DIZ could see his surroundings become distorted and blur together. The bandaged man couldn't take his eyes off Naminé, knowing what she was capable of, but never seeing her attempt anything before. Naminé was nothing short of a wonder. Then she opened her eyes without warning and everything stopped, all of it lasting no longer then a fraction of a second. Naminé mouthed something in a voiceless whisper and DIZ could just barely read the word on her lips 'awaken'.

There was silence as DIZ, Mickey, and Naminé watched the pods in hesitation, too afraid to make a move. The silence was soon overcome by a large yawn as Goofy stretched his arms over his head, pod disappearing from around him. He landed lightly on his feet, onto the slick floor below, blinking and looking around dazed before his eyes settled on King Mickey.

Goofy straightened himself at once and saluted. "Your majesty!"

Mickey didn't have time to reply as there was another loud yawn and Donald fell forward. The duck's landing wasn't as graceful as Goofy's and he stumbled a little before he regained his footing, looking around in much the same way Goofy had although a bit more confused. "Goofy…your majesty… wait….what?"

Both Donald and Goofy took in the faces of DIZ and Naminé, two people they didn't recognize. They were in a strange all white room that they didn't ever remember coming into and the only thing familiar was their king, only the last time they saw King Mickey he was being locked behind Kingdom Hearts along with Riku. Donald and Goofy along with Sora had started out on another journey to find Mickey and Riku. Now the mouse king was standing before them real, solid, and unharmed.

"Hi fellas" Mickey laughed with a vaguely nervous air. "Looks like I have some explaining to do."

Goofy touched a finger to his eye and wiped away a tear, grinning widely before he ran over to Mickey, hoisting the mouse up into the air by his waist, and hugging him close to his chest. "I'm so happy you're alright your majesty!"

"I am too. It's wonderful to see you Goofy" Mickey chuckled as he patted Goofy's shoulder. The dog squeezed tighter and nuzzled his face against Mickey's overly large ears.

"Say" The mouse king breathed. "Do you think you can put me down now? Oxygen is starting to become a problem."

"Oh, right sorry" Goofy said with his unique laugh before setting Mickey gently back on his feet.

Donald however did not seem amused and was staying his distance. "Not that I'm not glad you're here your majesty but aren't you supposed to be in Kingdom Hearts? What's going on?" The duck then pointed over to DIZ and Naminé. "Who are they? And where is Sora?" His voice came out impatient and somewhat annoyed.

Goofy scratched his head, looking blank. "Oh yeah, where is Sora?"

"Look behind you" DIZ said speaking for the fist time since Goofy and Donald had woken up.

Donald and Goofy didn't question him and they both turned around, staring straight at Sora's pod. The brunet was drifting, no expression on his face but he was calm and peaceful, eyes closed and softly breathing. Sora was asleep, dead to the world as always.

Goofy was staring at the keyblade master opened mouthed, looking as if he was trying to blink back tears. He wasn't doing so well. "What's…wrong with him?"

Donald walked forward and placed a hand on the gel like surface of the pod. "Sora…?" The duck questioned and paused for a moment, gazing up at his sleeping friend, eyes then narrowing as he kicked the sleeping chamber hard. "Sora wake up!" The keyblade master didn't stir. Donald tried again, this time hitting the pod with a fist. "Sora wake up! This is no time to be sleeping! Wake up!"

Getting no reaction, Donald turned angrily to the king. "Why won't he wake up?!"

Mickey sighed heavily. "I'm sorry fellas. Ya have a right to be angry. It's a really long story but I'll tell you everything that I can."

Goofy turned his head toward the king, wanting to reassure Mickey that whatever happened they would find a solution. Instead, his eyes skimmed over Naminé and he found himself attentively looking at her. The nobody had moved so she was standing a few feet behind the mouse king, her back against the white wall, looking as if she wanted to blend in with it, her face turned away and shadowed by blonde hair. "Gawrsh, I don't think I've ever seen you before but you seem awfully familiar. Have we met?"

Naminé turned her head to look at Goofy's face. Leave it to him to ask her something like that. The dog was oddly observant sometimes. She felt guilty. His eyes were hopeful and processed an innocence to them. Goofy and Donald had fought their way up Castle Oblivion's winding staircase with Naminé slowly breaking them apart the entire time. She could still see the duck and dog's relived faces when they met her and their confusion when she explained what was going on, she remembered Sora, Donald, and Goofy all wore the same trusting expression before she put them to sleep. "No" She muttered. "No, you've never seen me before in your life."

Naminé looked toward the doorway and away from Goofy, remaining motionless for a few seconds before she stepped away from the wall and quickly but silently left the room.

"Was it something I said?" Goofy asked.

"Who cares" Donald said while tapping his foot. "I'm ready for that explanation now."

Mickey looked torn. The explanation would take a great deal of time. There was a lot to cover. Some of what had happened was dark and the mouse king wasn't sure if he wanted to voice all of it out loud but with everything Donald and Goofy had been through they at least deserved to know what happened. "Well, first let me tell you about the nobodies…"

DIZ sighed, not caring for an explanation and not feeling it was his place to listen either. He would wait for King Mickey and hastily decided to follow Naminé, needing to talk to her about what they intended to do now. She wasn't far, just outside of Sora's room and in the corridor.

"Shouldn't you be with King Mickey?" Naminé asked without looking up.

"I'm not really one to want to hear the story again."

"You're leaving after this. Aren't you?" Naminé questioned. "There is nothing left for you here anymore."

"You're correct in that sense." DIZ said slowly. "My plans have failed. Roxas destroyed my work. The last thing I want to do is start again. Yet I have little choice but to try and pick up the pieces. However, Roxas didn't ruin everything. I still have my machine. I may be able to salvage the project."

Naminé remained silent. DIZ tilted his head, studying her thoughtfully. "What do you want to do Naminé?"

The blonde haired nobody glanced up at him in surprise, a sense of gratitude shinning in her eyes. "What do I want to do?" She repeated.

DIZ nodded. "Yes, is something wrong?"

"No, it's just no one ever asked me that before. Everyone always decided for me or told me what to do. Thank you for asking. It means a lot to me."

DIZ let her words sink in, feeling a bit regretful and nodded slowly before he spoke next. "What is it then?"

"I want to go after Roxas but I don't want to leave Sora. So I think I'll stay here with Sora for a while. Then maybe eventually I can see Roxas again" Naminé answered quickly.

"It's a noble sentiment even if I don't agree with it. I will not try to persuade you otherwise. It is your choice."

DIZ and Naminé fell into silence as they waited for Mickey, Donald, and Goofy to leave Sora's room. There was no more to say until then. DIZ wasn't sure how long they stood in that hallway for but it didn't seem important. It could have been a few minutes or an hour until King Mickey stepped out from the white room. When he did, he was alone, Donald and Goofy nowhere in sight.

"We've reached a decision," Mickey said with a smile.

"As have we" DIZ added.

Naminé gave an anxious glance to the mouse king. "You didn't tell them about…"

Mickey shook his head with a wink. "Castle Oblivion? Nope, not a word."

Naminé couldn't help her instant relieved smile. "Thank you"

"Yep, that's why I came out first because I wanted you to know that. I only explained what was necessary. That's best for now" Mickey gave a short cough, clearing his throat. "All right fellas you can come out now!"

Donald and Goofy walked out of the room a second later. Goofy looking confused and tired while Donald just looked upset and slightly angry, saying something unintelligible under his breath.

"It's hard to believe so much has happened huh Donald?" Goofy asked.

The duck plopped himself heavily on the ground. "I can't believe we've been asleep for a whole year. It must be why I'm so tired. If that makes any sense"

Goofy nodded, wordlessly agreeing, sagging against the wall, and leaning on it more heavily then he intended. "Yeah, I know what you mean, too much time spent without being able to move around. That sure was the longest nap I've ever taken." The dog said with a slight laugh.

Donald smirked. "You're telling me, I've got places that hurt that I didn't even know I had."

"The plan?" DIZ asked, his voice neutral.

"We're going to Hollow Bastion" Mickey affirmed

"Yeah" Donald cut in "To talk to Cid about the gummi ship."

DIZ frowned. "The gummi ship?"

Donald sighed looking agitated. "We lost ours. What do you expect? With all the worlds, we…or rather Sora crashed the thing into and how were we supposed to keep track of it when we've been asleep for a year? We have no idea where it is!"

"Our poor gummi ship" Goofy said sadly.

"I'm sure we'll get it back again fellas." Mickey countered with a mischievous grin. "Until that time we'll just barrow Cid's. I'm sure he won't mind… too much." 

Goofy gave a wide smile. "Then we're going to help out Sora! We're gonna help out as many worlds as possible. We can find new pathways for when Sora wakes up."

"Well that's the thing." Mickey said, looking a bit hesitant. "It's not certain that Sora will wake up."

"Then what will we do if that happens?" Donald snapped. "We're short a keyblade master. Goofy and I can't seal worlds. We might be able to prevent the heartless from taking them over for a time but without Sora there's not much we can do."

"It doesn't seem right leaving Sora here" Goofy admitted, trying to keep the sadness from his voice but the effort only making his statement come out empty.

"I'll be with him" Naminé said, looking up with an expression of defiance and sincere honesty. "I'll protect him with my life."

Goofy glanced at her, meeting her gaze. "We have met before. Haven't we?"

"You're better off not knowing" Naminé answered solemnly.

"Oh, well it's okay" Goofy said. "After traveling around with Sora, I don't mind a bit of mystery" Goofy lifted a hand to his face and tapped his head. "And if you say we're better off not knowing. Then we're better off not knowing. "

"Speak for yourself" Donald mumbled.

"Are ya sure there's no way to wake Sora up?" Goofy added quickly.

"We've been down that road." DIZ said, in a hard tone that was mixed with remorse. "It ended in failure."

Mickey sighed. "Maybe it wasn't meant to be."

"Your majesty!" Donald nearly shouted. "How can you say that?"

Mickey seemed as if he was prepared for the question and answered automatically. "Well as you know, as long as Roxas and Sora are separated, Sora will continue to sleep. Roxas was created from Sora and he is alive in Sora's place. It wouldn't be right to force Roxas to give himself over. Ans-" Mickey paused, quickly catching himself in front of Donald and Goofy. "I mean DIZ and Riku already tried that anyway. There may be a chance that Roxas will eventually come to terms with this but if he doesn't. So be it. What we need to do now is protect the worlds to the best of our ability. We have to band together and continue from where Sora left off. It may seem hopeless but it's not. There is always a light in the darkness and I for one will keep fighting for it."

"So will I" Goofy said, voice cheerful again.

Donald crossed his arms. "Yeah. Yeah"

Mickey looked expectantly at DIZ. "What about you DIZ?"

The cloaked man took a breath, appearing worn but there was a sense of strength and purpose shinning through his eyes. "I wish to confront my one time apprentice. As you, know my friend. I've spent years studying the functioning of the heart. After everything, I have arrived at one conclusion. The heart is incalculable. My own insolence of this has brought chaos to the worlds. I have no choice but to try and correct it."

Mickey froze, dreading where DIZ was headed. "You mean…?"

"Yes, Xehanort or rather Xemnas now, is my responsibility. I do grieve for what he has become. He was the foolish apprentice of a foolish man. Roxas at least left me with my machine. When Xemnas makes his move the least I can do is to try and stop him. Even if it is only to delay him."

"But your machine. It's unstable" Mickey's voice wavered faintly.

"This is what my heart is telling me to do. If Xemnas succeeds in creating his empire it will only be one of darkness and ignorance. I won't allow that to happen. Even if it means my own destruction." The bandaged man said firmly.

"DIZ…" Mickey trailed off.

"It is what I must do. I can only hope you will forgive me, my friend after all the trouble I've caused."

Mickey looked conflicted, wanting to intervene but not knowing if it was his place. The mouse king paused before he finally relented with a slump of his shoulders. "I understand DIZ but there's nothing for me to forgive you for."

DIZ smiled grimly. "Then it's settled."

Mickey looked up, glancing at DIZ, then at Naminé, and finally Donald and Goofy. "So it is and I'll help you DIZ, in any way I can."

"Thank you" The cloaked man said, voice brimming with gratefulness.

"So how about it guys," Mickey said with a forced smile as he extend his arm outward with his palm facing up.

Donald and Goofy returned the smile as they place their hands on top of King Mickey's. DIZ and Naminé looked lost before Donald turned to them with an expectant look. "Well, come on we don't have all day."

Naminé stifled laughter as she placed her hand softly on top theirs. DIZ still uncertain but soon followed suit with another glare from Donald, his hand looking awkward on top of the pile, larger and covered with thick wrappings.

"All right" Mickey said loudly. "Everyone, one for all and all for one!"

0o0o0o0

It wasn't long afterwards when Mickey, Donald, and Goofy arrived in Hollow Bastion. The duck and the dog remembered Hollow Bastion as falling apart and being overrun with heartless, the land degraded and parts of the sky either cracked or missing, leaving only gray shadows. There had been a seeping chill in the air, the whole world feeling alive with misfortune, deprived of life, dangerous, and ridged. Donald and Goofy had wanted to escape from it as soon as possible.

King Mickey had told them Leon and the others were able to leave Traverse Town and

move back to Hollow Bastion, had said Hollow Bastion changed but failed to mention how much. It was as if it was another world entirely. The land was still rocky in parts but now mostly solid and whole and the chill was completely gone with the sky back to its natural color. There was still a large amount of debris but also several buildings, what was once barren land, now swarmed with life. Hollow Bastion had a long way to go but it wasn't anything compared to what it had been.

King Mickey was used to it by now but Donald and Goofy were looking around in wonder. Donald whistled. "Wow" The duck basically spoke for them all.

Goofy was still staring, not bothering to look over at Donald. "Gawrsh, Hollow Bastion sure does look different now. "

Donald nodded. "I hope Leon and the gang are doing okay."

Goofy gave a quick shrug. "Well, I guess we'll find out soon enough. We do have to find Cid after all."

"Yep, You'll do fine fellas" Mickey said in a high-spirited voice. "Just make sure not to overdue it on heartless and nobodies until you get your strength back."

Goofy turned to look at the mouse king "You're leaving again aren't you?"

"Sorry, this is where I get off."

Donald crossed his arms with a frown, torn between sorrow and anger. "But you just got here. We just found you."

"I know" Mickey sighed before he quickly covered it up with a smile. "But hey, you know me I've got a kingdom to check on, a Riku to find, a DIZ to help, and an organization to stop. Then after all of that I think Pluto is still running around lose somewhere."

Donald walked over to the king, finally giving into the sheer relief he felt at waking up and finding Mickey was fine. He threw his arms around the mouse's shoulders in a tight embrace.

"Don't worry we'll stay in touch. I promise no more disappearing acts." The mouse king said as he returned the hug.

"Yeah" Donald mumbled, hanging on for a moment more before letting go. "We'd better."

King Mickey stepped back, smiling apologetically and calling fourth a portal. "Remember to have faith in yourselves just like I do. Stay strong and stay true to Sora." Mickey called out before he stepped into a ring of blue, purple, and black. As quickly as Donald and Goofy were reunited with their king, he was gone again, the duck and dog finding themselves alone.

"I wish I could do that," Donald said, eyes locked on the spot where Mickey had vanished.

"Huh? Do what?"

"Travel through portals" Donald replied. "It would really make things a lot easier."

Goofy started to walk onward in leisurely even strides. "C'mon Donald we better get going."

The duck hurried to follow. They walked in silence for a minute before Donald spoke. "This doesn't feel right without Sora."

King Mickey hadn't explained much, mostly telling them about the nobodies and Organization XIII and that they'd been asleep for a year but not going into details on how it happened, claiming it was in the past and best left forgotten. The mouse king explained that Sora needed a nobody named Roxas to be complete, Roxas who was Sora's other half and without him Sora would sleep forever, which put all the worlds in grave danger. Riku had teamed up with DIZ and attempted to capture Roxas but evidently did not succeed and was once again missing. Donald and Goofy were also told no one would be able to remember Sora until he awakened, but again Mickey didn't elaborated on why.

Donald and Goofy knew they were for another long journey and that they needed to help the worlds in anyway they could. It was apart of their mission, what Sora would have wanted, what they themselves wanted but leaving Sora was the hardest thing they'd ever done.

"I know what you mean." Goofy said wistfully.

"Yeah well, we were assigned to help out the keyblade master. Now Sora's not here and we are looking for Cid so we can use his gummi ship. This whole plan is nuts and we really shouldn't have left Sora!"

Goofy scratched his head thoughtfully. "Guess we have a new mission now."

"I still don't like it."

"Maybe after we get the gummi ship we'll be able to drop by Disney Castle, if only to see how everyone's doing." Goofy said with a half forced cheerfulness to his voice, doing his best to pick up Donald's spirits.

The dog's efforts did not go over how he hoped as Donald shifted his eyes, looking taken back and weary. "Oh no!"

"What?" Goofy asked.

"I'm not going back there! Oh no no no" Donald's voice hitched, coming out panicked.

Goofy didn't understand Donald's reaction and scrunched his eyes in thought before understanding quickly struck him. The dog gave a toothy grin. "Daisy?"

Donald shuddered. "She's going to be so mad. I'm staying away from that place forever if I have to."

Goofy chuckled. "It's can't be that bad."

"Yes, it can!"

Goofy was trying to think of a reply when he heard a high pitched but familiar shriek. Both Donald and Goofy jumped, quickly looking around trying to locate the source of the noise but coming up empty.

"Hey up here!" A girl called from a low stone ledge just overhead. She had short hair, the color of mud, a small brown top held up by leather straps, and black shorts. She was waving enthusiastically.

The girl jumped down from the ledge with a flip, landing easily and neatly on her feet before running over to Donald and Goofy, reaching them in merely seconds, slightly winded but completely ecstatic. "It's you! I knew we would meet again!"

"Yuffie!" Donald and Goofy shouted in greeting at the same time.

Yuffie placed a hand on her hip and smiled broadly. "The one and only."

"Shucks Yuffie it's great to see you." Goofy grinned. "How is everyone?"

"They're just great! How about you two? It's the weirdest thing everyone just started to remember you a little while ago and then suddenly here you are. Where have you been all this time? What's been happening?"

Donald tapped his foot, looking a bit irritated. "You do see there are only two of us here don't you? Shouldn't you be asking about Sora?"

Yuffie blinked and her jaw tightened in thought. "Sora? That name seems really familiar. Like I've heard it somewhere. Who's Sora?"

Goofy turned to Donald. "She won't remember until Sora wakes up Donald. Remember what King Mickey said?"

Donald didn't look convinced, glancing at Yuffie who seemed even more confused. "Fine, in that case you know SORA the keyblade master. He stopped the darkness, saved all of the worlds, and restored Hollow Bastion."

Yuffie ran a hand through her hair, somewhat uncomfortable. "Really? I thought that was you guys."

Donald shook his head. "I wish but no it was most definitely Sora."

"Well" Goofy added. "We did help but yeah it was Sora."

Yuffie flicked her wrist, dismissing the issue and turned around, motioning for Donald and Goofy to follow. "Hey! C'mon, I'll show you around. Everybody's working on stuff over at Merlin's house."

"We need to talk to Cid." Donald said as he and Goofy quickly followed the brown haired ninja.

"Okay! Don't worry he's there too. Just follow me." With that, Yuffie picked up her pace, forcing Donald and Goofy to practically run to keep up with her.

The three of them arrived at Merlin's house in no time with Yuffie just about throwing the door open. Merlin's house hadn't changed much, still small and cluttered with books and other various things, lighting dim and the colors of the room were made up of different shades of grays and browns but the atmosphere was warm.

There was a large computer against a wall where Cid was hunched over, typing frantically away, the blonde haired man seeming oblivious to everything. Leon and Aerith were standing directly behind, watching silently. All three turned around to stare at Donald and Goofy when Yuffie closed the door with a soft click. "Look who I found!" Yuffie said happily.

Aerith was the first to react, giving a dazzling smile, eyes brightening as she clasped her hands together, long chestnut ponytail swaying behind her. "I'm so glad to see you. We missed you!"

Cid rested an arm over his computer chair. "Would you look at what the cat dragged in?" He said with a chuckle.

Leon stared up at them from across the room, grunting but not saying anything.

"So this is it" Yuffie said cheerfully. "Meet the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee!"

"Hey guys" Goofy said. "It's great to see you're all doing well-"

"Yeah, it is but we need to ask Cid a favor." Donald cut in.

Cid arched a golden eyebrow. "Ask then."

Even Donald was put off by Cid's penetrating gaze and he swallowed nervously before he spoke. "You see we're in a jam and we need to kind of…borrow your gummi ship…"

Cid scowled, profound lines in his weathered face visibly creasing. "Why do you need mine? Did you lose yours or something?"

Goofy nodded "Yep."

"No" Cid said shortly. "Not with what I've seen you two put yours through. Plus I don't want to give it up with the worlds all in disorder right now. There's no telling when it might come in handy."

"We're not the ones who kept crashing ours!" Donald said, voice frustrated but there was also a warm undertone to it. "That was Sora!"

Goofy looked up with expectant eyes, not the least bit deterred by Cid's reaction. "Please Cid we really need it."

The blonde haired man propped his elbow up on the back of the computer chair, resting his chin in his palm. "Why? For what? Where have you been all this time?"

Donald folded his arms and answered easily. "What else would we need it for? We need it to help the worlds. You said yourself they are in disorder. As for where we've been. We were sleeping."

Cid blinked, not convinced. "You were sleeping for over a year? Where in the heck were you sleeping?! In cold storage?"

Both Donald and Goofy looked uneasy. Goofy shuffled his feet. "Ahhhh…"

"Give them the ship Cid" Leon cut in, irritated and tone hollow.

Cid glanced sharply at Leon who had yet to move. "Since when do I take orders from you?"

Leon shrugged, not answering the question. Instead, his slate gray eyes drifted over to Donald and Goofy. "Where's the other one?"

Donald and Goofy jerked their heads up, Goofy's face breaking out into a happy grin. "Sora? You mean you remember Sora?"

"Sora? " Leon repeated slowly as if the word was a foreign concept. The burnet was silent as he considered the name for a moment. "No, but I remember the last time we met you had a keyblade wielder with you. That's all. No name, no nothing. Still I know there was someone else. The chosen one right? The savior of the worlds."

"Yeah, that's Sora!" Donald said proudly before letting his eyes fall half closed, and continuing very solemnly. "He's still sleeping and we don't think he's going to wake up for awhile but until that time it's our duty to take up from where he left off."

"Then this is for Sora" Leon said stonily. "Cid give them the ship."

Cid looked to be at a complete loss, cloudy blue eyes turning thoughtful as he rubbed his chin, trying in vain to make sense out of all of this. Then Yuffie piped in. "Aww c'mon Cid I know the gummi ship's like your baby but stop being so stubborn. It's not good for you. Squall's right. Just let them have it."

"That's Leon," The burnet corrected automatically.

"Alright fine" Yuffie chirped. "_Leon's_ right."

"Think of it this way" Aerith said joyfully. "Nothing worse can happen and we should do what is in our power to help them."

Cid sighed, defeated. "Fine, I'll let you have it under three conditions."

Donald and Goofy quickly glanced at each other, Donald turning his head back to Cid to meet his face with confidence. "Sure, no problem. Name them."

Cid stuck a finger in the air for emphasis. "First Hollow Bastion's has a problem. We've got heartless and nobodies like some sort of disease. You help us clear them out."

Goofy gave a thumbs up. "You've got it!"

Cid nodded, holding up another finger. "Second, you're only borrowing it. I want it back." Cid then lifted his last finger. "Third, there's no way you're going alone. Leon goes with you."

Donald and Goofy blinked at that, more then surprised and not knowing what to say. However, they weren't half as taken back at Leon. The burnet flashed blazing eyes at Cid. "Hell no! Why me?"

Cid shrugged. "Why not?"

"Because…Get Cloud to do it."

"Look I don't care who goes." Cid said gruffly. "Just as long as it's someone."

"I'll go!" Yuffie shouted, raising her hand in the air and nearly hopping off the floor.

"And Hollow Bastion? Weren't we working to restore it. To something better even" Leon said coldly.

"We'll still be here for Hollow Bastion." Yuffie supplied. "We'll just help Donald and Goofy too."

"I like that idea" Aerith said. "Maybe we can take turns going. Some of us can help Donald and Goofy with the worlds while the rest of us stay here and work on Hollow Bastion." The flower girl's eyes then glistened wetly, her voice soft and strained. "Besides I don't think there will be much left of Hollow Bastion if we don't help them. And we're doing this for him, for Sora… Right Leon?"

Leon stalked over to the door without answering, walking around Donald and Goofy and opening it. "I'll tell Cloud." He said in a clipped voice without turning around as he promptly stepped outside, slamming the door behind him. A couple of pictures on the wall rattled.

"Don't worry" Aerith's face lit up with a small smile. "That was just the Leon way of saying he agrees."

"Thanks guys" Goofy said genuinely. "Without Sora the worlds are going to need all the help they can get."

"We can check up on Sora too." Donald added. "We can show everyone here where he is and that way at least one of us will be able to see Sora everyday so he'll never be alone." Donald lowered his voice so only Goofy could hear. "Even with you know who there."

Goofy nodded. "Sounds great Donald. You know we could never just abandon Sora."

"So that's it then." Yuffie said. "Now all we have to do is wait for Squall and Cloud to come back."

Aerith walked over to Donald and Goofy, pulling two white cards from her white and pink dress, handing them to the duck and the dog. "Oh! Here I forgot I had these on me. I thought you may want them."

Donald and Goofy flipped their cards open and looked down at them. They read 'Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee Honorary Member' in large bold black print. Donald looked up at Aerith. "Wow membership cards!"

"Thanks Aerith" Goofy said.

The flower girl smiled. "You're welcome."

Over from his computer chair, Cid loudly cleared his throat. Everyone in the room turned to focus their attention on him. "Aren't you forgetting something Donald and Goofy?"

The duck and the dog blinked. Goofy placed a hand to his forehead in thought before comprehension shone on his face. "Right the heartless and nobodies"

Donald nodded firmly. "Lets go get them Goofy! I don't know about you but I think a fight is the perfect thing we need to get our strength back."

"Just like old times" Goofy replied as he brought out his sword and shield. "I'm right behind you Donald." The duck readied his staff and the two of them raced out the door.

Yuffie was continuing to bounce on her heels, looking torn for a moment before she seemed to make up her mind and chased after the dog and the duck. "Hey wait! I want to help. I'll come too!" The ninja rushed past and out of the door, making it slam for the second time.

There was a warm rush of air as Merlin opened the door only seconds later with a very perplexed expression on his face, raising a long bony finger, he pointed just a little ways past himself. "Was that just Donald and Goofy?"

Aerith tilted her head, the pink ribbon that held her ponytail back slipping over her shoulder. "Sure was."

The old wizard's eyes brightened. "That's splendid! How are they?"

"Well their good for the most past." Aerith replied. "But some things came up and we have a change of plans now."

Merlin stroked his long gray beard. "Oh, Really?"

Aerith didn't have time to reply as there was a thud over from the computer. Cid had turned back to the computer screen and his head was resting against the keyboard, the blonde man running his hands through his short hair. "I think I need a cigarette," He muttered.


	6. Integration part 1

Notes: Wow my longest chapter yet. I decided to do it in two parts since it's so long. I'll post the second part up in a couple of days. I already have it written. Thanks again for the reviews. I loved reading them. Also thanks for the comments on the character info. I was worried about getting them right. I'm glad you guys think I did okay.

On chapter 5, I think I made it seem like Cid was the only one with the Gummi Ship. I know Donald and Goofy have their own so I want back and changed some of it so it makes more sense. They have to team up with the FF characters for now though. Sorry if Roxas seems a little naive in this chapter. I just kind of figured he wouldn't know that much about malls.

Chapter 6: Integration

Roxas woke up to the sound of soft cooing in his ear. He slowly opened his eyes which felt heavy and gritty, blinking a few times to clear his vision, Roxas was met with a small white head, a flesh colored beak, and two beady black eyes that were staring into his own. It took him a minute to realize it was a bird and perched right in front of his face. Roxas watched it without moving, for some reason finding himself transfixed by it. The bird was pure white, maybe some type of dove? Suddenly wanting to touch it, he reached out a hand when it shrieked angrily at him, quickly flying away in a flurry of white feathers.

It dawned on Roxas then that there were no birds in The World That Never Was. He panicked for a moment, not knowing where he was, not recognizing any of his surroundings. The sky wasn't the pitch black he was used to but instead the colors of sunset. He wasn't in his still and quiet room at the castle and he could hear a buzzing around him along with a wide variety of other noise he couldn't identify. Roxas felt overwhelmed and an automatic impulse to run from the new sensations, to get out of the open and avoid any danger but then the events from yesterday slowly came back to him. He'd left the organization, fought heartless, fought Riku, and met his other, then spent the night in Twilight Town, on this bench.

Roxas forced himself to relax, pressing himself further into the smooth wood of the bench with a groan. His whole body ached, limbs sore and muscles feeling as if they'd been lit on fire. The numerous scratches that covered his skin were stinging badly and he was so stiff it was hard for him to move. Roxas hadn't felt any of it last night, fighting for his life and with the adrenalin rush, there wasn't time to think about anything. Now it was catching up to him.

Roxas craved a potion but seriously doubted if he could find them in Twilight Town. He pulled himself into a sitting position, hissing through his teeth at the sudden movement. Roxas wasn't new to this, had been in pain several times before, mostly from carrying out missions for Xemnas. He rolled his shoulders and stretched out his arms and legs, tying to get his blood to flow right again, and forcing himself to push the stinging to the back of his mind.

Roxas let his head fall backwards, letting himself rest for a few minutes before he attempted to move again. The bench wasn't completely right in front of the mall, as he'd first thought but more toward the back doors and slanted so it was just touching the corner of the building, facing away from the parking lot, and thankfully out of the way enough to where Roxas wasn't by any people. The blonde could distantly hear a mixture of chattering voices and the grinding of tires against the pavement.

Roxas felt his eyes grow heavy and fought to keep them open. With all the people up ahead he guessed it was probably around midday. It was basically impossible to tell with Twilight Town and Roxas didn't have a watch. Then again, it was also impossible to tell time in The World That Never Was, time never really being that big of an issue before.

Roxas never slept much, usually only a few hours and whenever he wanted. The fact that he had slept in so late worried him, knowing it was dangerous to remain unaware this long especially in an unfamiliar place but he'd been dead tired.

At least one good thing came out of it. He hadn't dreamed, his sleep was black, hollow, and void, with no Sora to haunt him.

Roxas threw his Organization XIII robe over his shoulder, picking himself up from off the bench when his eyes nearly fell shut again. He winced, standing fully on his feet and half walked, half limped around the building of the mall to the front doors. The parking lot was completely full with cars packed tightly together and even more people were getting off a bus that seemed to go endlessly around Twilight Town.

Roxas counted a wide variety of people, parents dragging screaming children, older couples walking with their arms linked, and younger adults talking animatedly into cell phones. The mall wasn't much to look at, a shade of yellow brown like so many of the other buildings in Twilight Town. If nothing else it was large, about two stories but that hardly made it stand out. Everything in Twilight Town just seemed to blend in with the surroundings.

Roxas walked up to the tall glass doors, taking a sharp breath, grabbing the large black handle, and quickly entered, instantly greeted by a rush of cool air which felt nice compared to how muggy it was outside. The interior of the mall looked completely different, the floor gray and white marble, so polished Roxas could see his reflection in it. There was a water fountain to his right, simple with just a white spray shooting up from the center of a pool of water and accented by blue light.

To his left there was a chocolate shop. The blonde had never tried chocolate before, the organization never keeping the best food around. Roxas breathed in, smelling the sharp yet sweet tang of it, stomach lurching as he realized how hungry he was, not having eaten anything in at least a day. Roxas promised himself as soon as he found clothes he would get something to eat. He never really understood why he became hungry. He didn't have a heartbeat, so what was the point in eating?

Roxas couldn't see much of the second floor but there were numerous escalators leading to it, even a glass elevator. He could hear the ringing of a bell from an arcade not to far off and there was also a vast array of shops, Roxas didn't even want to try to identify.

People brushed around him. He caught a few shooting him odd glances but for the most part, they weren't paying any attention to him. Roxas felt completely lost. This was the first time he'd ever been in a mall, never having a reason or the desire to go inside one before. Most places he'd been to didn't have them anyway but Twilight Town was proving to be different on a lot of things.

Roxas continued to walk further into the mall, looking for any sign of a clothing store, and starting to feel very uneasy in the crowd. The World That Never Was didn't have any traces of life except for heartless and the organization. Roxas was used to being around only twelve people at the most and even then, they were all spread out through a large castle, the Organization XIII members not talking much with each other, liking to keep their distance, Axel being the one exception to the rule.

Roxas found himself jumping when anyone passed within an inch of him, instincts screaming at him to draw the keyblade and he has having a very difficult time stilling them. Roxas was breathing hard and swallowing heavily, trying to get past the anxiety, to orientate himself, wanting to leave as fast as possible, just get his clothes, grab some food, get in, and get out.

Roxas jerked his head to the side as his eyes finally landed on a clothing store, the name lit up in large white letters but Roxas barely glanced at it, not particularly caring. The blonde headed straight toward it, feeling a vague sense of relief. The store was large, Roxas barely being able to see the back of it with a high ceiling, a smooth dark gray floor, and white walls, making it look more like a warehouse. Fortunately, there weren't too many people. There were several racks of pants, shelves of neatly folded shirts that nearly looked to reach the ceiling, racks of shoes, and a sidewall with a display of purses of several different colors. Jewelry was even hanging from metal casing but most of it was, plastic, cheap, and gaudy. The store smelled of leather and a strange mix of window cleaner and dust.

Roxas felt his head spin, having no idea on where to begin, never thinking shopping for clothes would be so complicated, suppressing the urge to sigh in frustration, he headed to the nearest rack of pants. He picked up a pair of blue jeans, holding them up to his waist. They looked about two sizes too big, reading the tag, the dimensions made little sense, Roxas not knowing what the numbers were referring too or even what size he was, putting the jeans back, he started to thumb through the rack again when he heard a cough.

Roxas looked up, seeing a counter a few feet away with an older woman behind it. She had peppered hair that was pulled tightly back and deep lines etched into her face, the sales clerk or so Roxas assumed. The blonde dismissed her and went back to looking through the mass of jeans.

The woman coughed again louder this time. "Hey kid!"

Roxas glanced up at her for the second time. "What?" He asked sharply.

"Something wrong? It looks like you just came off the street."

"There might be a good reason for that."

The woman frowned, tapping the side of the wall with her knuckles. "We've got cameras here, just so you know."

"Good for you" Roxas commented.

Her frown deepened. "I hope you're not intending to take anything"

Roxas shrugged but didn't say anything. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a row of all white shirts. Still feeling her eyes on him Roxas reached out an arm toward them. His hands were scraped and calloused, fingernails cracked with dried blood and dirt, not being able to remove all of it at the gift shop he and Axel were at last night. Roxas slowly ran his fingers down the white cotton. There was the sound of a chair scrapping against the floor as the woman abruptly stood up, hastily making her way toward him. Roxas let his fingers travel up to the hangers intentionally knocking a few shirts onto the floor, before quickly stepping away and walking to the back of the store. The woman didn't follow him, instead stopping to pick up the shirts, muttering something under her breath that ended in _teenagers_.

The back of the store wasn't much better. There seemed to be even more rows of clothes and Roxas thought about grabbing something whether it fit or not. He hastily snatched a couple of random shirts and a couple pairs of pants, biting down in annoyance when he once again realized they were much too big for him. Throwing them angrily over his shoulder, just on top of his Organization XIII robe, Roxas stalked forward. He'd make himself deal with them.

Roxas wasn't paying attention and he was too late to see the girl in front of him. She too was obviously distracted, face turned to the side, staring at the clothing instead of watching the path in front of her, quickly walking towards him and to the back of the store. Her head suddenly snapping forward and eyes widening in surprise when she saw him. She tried to stop herself and Roxas also tried to skid to a halt but he was too late. They both collided heavily into each other.

The girl stumbled backwards and Roxas instinctively reached out a hand to steady her, fingers wrapping tightly around her wrist, pulling her forward, stopping her from falling. Roxas didn't know his own strength and instead the girl fell towards him, nearly toppling onto his shoulder but was able to regain her footing at the last second. They were standing very close and Roxas could almost feel her hair brushing against his cheek. Neither one of them moved, being too caught up in trying to figure what just happened. Slowly, Roxas realized what he had done and quickly stepped away.

The girl was breathless and blushing hard. Straightening herself, she glanced up at him. She had large green eyes and auburn colored hair which fell over her shoulders like two thick and twisting ropes, was wearing a pink-orange colored shirt with a white flower design that went up one side and tan shorts that reached just below her knees. She also had a large purple shopping bag balanced on her shoulder and two light blue smaller bags lined up on her opposite wrist. Roxas was surprised she hadn't dropped something.

"I'm sorry!" She nearly shouted. "I wasn't looking where I was going and I can be such a klutz sometimes." She ended her sentence with a giggle but abruptly cut herself off as she took the time to look at him. Her eyes running over his body, over his scared appearance and she bit down on her lip, eyes flickering to the side and then back to him as if she wasn't sure what to do.

"Yeah, whatever" Roxas said as he walked around her. She did seem slightly familiar like maybe once he'd seen her around before but the last thing he wanted was to deal with people, especially some girl who seemed much too nervous to talk to him and he had just happened to run into. The blonde heard a rustling of bags as she hurried to follow him, making Roxas inwardly cringe.

"Hey! Are you alright? You look like you've been in a fight."

"Great" Roxas grounded out as he walked faster.

The girl continued to chase after him. "Are you sure? You really don't look so good."

Roxas spun around to face her, starting to become slightly angry. "I said I'm fine. Stop following me."

"Oh" She didn't look to take the hint, her head tilted to the side as if she were studying him, hair looking even more like ropes as it dangled across her face, her nose scrunched up in concentration before her eyes lit up and she smiled. "I don't think I've ever seen you before. I know I would have remembered you. Are you new to Twilight Town?"

Roxas sighed in frustration, preparing to turn around again, having no problem with ignoring her altogether and simply walking off.

The girl must have sensed this as she quickly spoke up again. "Well, it's just there aren't that many kids here my age in Twilight Town. I really know about all most everyone and I know I would have remembered you. I mean look at your eyes their like electric!"

Roxas remained unimpressed. "I'm leaving now."

"Umm okay" The burnet glanced at the floor, looking a bit disappointed. "Don't feel you have to leave on my account. I'll stop bothering you."

"I'm not"

The girl blinked at him and seemed puzzled for a moment before her cheerful expression returned. "Well in that case I'm Olette. So if we ever run into each other again you'll know who I am. It was really nice to meet you…."

"Roxas"

"Right Roxas" Olette extended a hand her smile growing. "So hope to see you around."

The blonde's arms remained motionless in front of him as he stared down at her proffered hand, not taking it. Olette let her arm fall back to her side. She had that downcast look again but she quickly covered it up with another smile, turned her back to him, and walked to another part of the store.

Roxas exhaled, grateful she wasn't talking to him anymore and continued to walk toward the front of the store when something caught his eye. There was another rack of jeans but these looked smaller. Roxas debated with looking them over and after a minute gave in. He tossed the two pairs of pants he had over his shoulder onto the floor, not caring were they ended up and pulled a pair of jeans down. They were black, laced with several buckles, and had silver zippers going up the knees.

Roxas didn't have any need for something so complicated but he held them against his waist anyway, soon finding he had to place the top just below his chest so the legs didn't drag on the ground, putting them back, he pulled out the next pair but they weren't any better. The blonde's stomach knotted in irritation. So far, his plan of just getting in and getting back out was not going to well. Roxas let his head thud against the clothes rack, feeling the cool metal against his skin as he clenched his eyes shut, completely stressed. He'd been in countless of death defying situations, shopping for clothes shouldn't work him up this badly.

Roxas picked his head up when he heard soft humming. A few rows down from him was Olette, expertly thumbing through a row of shirts before pulling out a purple one covered in orange glitter. She bit her fingernail, shaking her head and placed it back, pulling out the next one with a slight grin. Roxas trailed her with his eyes as she walked up to wall that was strung with purses. Olette lifted the shirt up, looking back and fourth between the two, comparing the colors before she seemed to come to a conclusion and went to get a new shirt entirely.

Roxas watched her for a few more minutes. It was obvious Olette knew what she was doing and Roxas knew he needed help whether he wanted it or not. Olette was better then the few random salespeople that were walking around and there was no way he was going to ask that sales woman up at the front desk for help. He could use the girl, it was easier then getting so frustrated.

Roxas then prepared himself to do one of the hardest things he'd even done in his life, more difficult then even wielding keyblades and fighting armies of heartless. He approached Olette. She hadn't heard him come up, still humming with her back turned, and Roxas knew how to move without making a sound so Olette took no notice when he leaned over to talk to her with his mouth right by her ear. "Olette right?"

The brunet jumped and spun around, clearly startled, staring at him vacantly for a second before recognition showed on her face and she broke into a wide grin. "Oh, hi Roxas!"

Roxas moved further away from her. "Yeah, look I'm kind of new to the whole shopping for clothes thing. Actually I've never done it before so I was wondering if you could…"

Roxas didn't have time to finish before Olette cut him off with a squeal that was so high pitched it made him wince. She was leaning towards him, her hands clasped, eyes shinning, lifting a finger and pointing from him to herself. "You want me to help you shop?" Her voice came out no more then a squeak.

Roxas didn't understand her reaction and wondered if he'd said the wrong thing. Although, he couldn't think of what it was. "Yes" He said slowly. "That's what I-was going to ask."

"Of course I will! I'd love too!" Olette nearly shouted.

Roxas did not share her enthusiasm.

The girl's demeanor quickly changed from excited to determined. She placed her hands on her hips, eyes looking completely serious. "Don't worry Roxas. You couldn't have picked someone better. We'll find the perfect thing for you."

"I don't care what it is" The blonde's voice was hard. "I just want something that fits so I can leave."

Olette didn't appear to have heard him, raising a hand to her chin, lips set in a grim line, as she gazed fixedly at him. "Hmmm…What size are you?"

Roxas knew he should have been prepared for the question but he wasn't and didn't know how to respond. "I'm not…" Roxas started to say but then he quickly trailed off when he realized Olette really wasn't expecting a reply.

The girl was taking a couple of steps backwards, moving her fingers so they formed a square, peering out of them and into Roxas's face then down to his waist. Roxas felt a sudden sinking sensation, having the impression he'd just gotten more then what he bargained for. It was as if Olette was looking out of a picture frame and he was the blank canvas. Olette smiled broadly and let her hands drop. "I think I know!"

Roxas felt a little relief that he didn't have to answer the size inquiry but he didn't have anything else to say to Olette either so he remained stoically silent.

Olette was not fazed by this, wasn't even looking at him anymore, instead, glancing around at her surroundings. Coming to a decision, she turned back to Roxas and shook her head. "First of all Roxas you're in the wrong section." Olette's voice came out as sounding amused. "Nothing's going to fit you here. We need to go…" Olette pointed to somewhere in front of her "That way!"

The next thing Roxas knew, Olette had a firm grip on his wrist and was tugging him to another part of the store. Olette's fingers were soft and warm, something Roxas wasn't used too. His first impulse was to wrench his hand away but he didn't want to make himself stand out anymore then he already did. Roxas didn't like touch, his arm going ridged in her grasp but Olette appeared not to have noticed. This was a common thing with humans Roxas had to remind himself and Olette wasn't doing anything wrong. Gritting his teeth, Roxas continued to let her pull him, reassured in the belief that he never went anywhere he didn't want to.

It only took a few minutes for Olette to take them to the opposite side of the store. Roxas couldn't tell the difference, both sides looking completely identical but judging from Olette's pleased expression, she didn't agree. Olette thankfully, let go of his wrist and started going through the various racks of clothes.

After a second, the burnet had already found something, holding up a navy blue tank top and placing it against Roxas's shoulder. Olette did have good taste. The tank top was much better then anything Roxas had found by himself and it looked to actually fit. Olette intently ran her eyes over it. "I like the way that looks but it's not quite right. Maybe something with a higher neckline"

Roxas was about to snatch the tank top away when Olette turned to place it back on the hanger. "I told you I don't care." Roxas said impatiently. "It's fine."

Olette glanced at him and then back toward the tank top. "Well I guess we could try it on anyway. It wouldn't hurt. Hold your arms out Roxas."

Roxas blinked, not understanding the reason for Olette's request. "Why?"

"Because I need my hands free so I can't carry everything for you"

Roxas still looked perplexed but Olette was waiting for him to follow her directions with an eager expression on her face. The blonde resentfully held his arms out in front of him, Olette at once draping the tank top over them. "We'll hang on to it for a bit."

Olette turned back to the rack of clothes. A minute later, holding up two more shirts, moving them in front of her as if she was weighing them. "What do you like better Roxas? Black or green?"

"I…aaahhh…"

"Hmm.. I can't decide." Olette said hastily cutting him off. "We should try both." The girl then added the two shirts to the growing pile in his arms. "Okay, I think that's all from right here. Time to go to the next one!"

Olette smiled giddily, her fingers latching back onto his wrist and Roxas found once again he was being tugged to a different part of the store.

About an hour later Roxas figured he probably had at least forty articles of clothing hanging over his arms and shoulders. Olette still had yet to carry anything except for the shopping bags she had from earlier. Besides acting as a shopping cart, Roxas hadn't done much, except for remaining still and silent while Olette held clothing against him and gushed about every other thing she saw. He'd even gotten used to her pulling him around, the light touches were still annoying but at least Roxas found he could tolerate them now.

Then as suddenly as Olette entered her shopping frenzy, she came out of it. The burnet turned so she was facing Roxas and he expected her to give him something else to carry but she didn't have anything, just stared at him expectantly. Roxas, not knowing what she wanted, stared back. There was silence between them for a few minutes then Olette sighed, seeming to give up. "Well?" She said.

"Well what?"

"Try them on. I want to see how they look!"

Roxas glanced around him, looking faintly conflicted. "Here?"

Olette frowned slightly, somewhat confused. "Yes, where else would you try it on?"

Roxas shrugged indifferently, setting the mass of clothes he had onto the floor, arms feeling empty and a little shaky now that they were finally freed. Roxas took a hold of his stained white T-shirt, about to pull it off when Olette grabbed one of his hands between her own, stopping the movement. She was looking up at him with an unreadable expression and quickly adverted her eyes, turning her head away. Once again, Roxas could see the pink coloring Olette's cheeks.

"Roxas that wasn't funny!" Olette's voice sounded disapproving but it also contained a hint of a smile. The girl let go of him and pointed to a few feet way. "The dressing room is right there silly."

"Right" The blonde agreed, voice betraying no emotion, Roxas was never one to be self-conscience.

Roxas knelt down to pick up the large bulk of clothes, a bit surprised when Olette bent down to help him, both standing up with an armful of clothes and making their way toward the dressing room. Roxas glanced down at the huge pile and then to Olette. "Try on all of this?"

Olette gave him a vaguely apologetic look. "Well…it's a start."

Roxas stared at her unbelievingly. "A start?" He forced out.

Olette nodded. "You should try on these for now. Then we can find some more."

Roxas didn't have a chance to respond before he and Olette reached the dressing room. Olette grabbed a plastic tag off the counter with a large red number twelve on it and handed it to him. Roxas turned the tag in his hands, not knowing what he was supposed to do with it.

"You hang it outside your door." Olette said off of the blonde's blank expression. "The rule is you can only take ten items in with you." Olette reached over and took about half of Roxas's pile, adding it to her own. "So try those on first and I'll wait out here and hold the rest for you."

"Fine" Roxas said as he stepped inside the dressing room.

"Hey, wait!"

Roxas turned to look back at Olette from over his shoulder. The burnet was beaming at him, showing two rows of pearly white teeth. "Remember to come out when you're done. I want to see how everything looks."

Roxas made an affirmative noise with his throat, found a stall, and quickly closed the door.

Olette was able to find something wrong with every outfit Roxas modeled for her, mostly trivial things, like the sleeves were too big or the color didn't go well with his eyes, and Roxas was starting to get very tired of it. He was back inside the dressing room with clothes scattered all over the place, so far only trying on what Olette had told him. Roxas decided it was time to take matters into his own hands even if it was just clothes shopping. He never cared what he wore before but now the concept of choosing his own clothing was staring to feel more and more appealing.

Roxas glanced around the room taking in the clothes for the first time, eyes landing on a black sleeveless shirt. The bottom edge was a cream color and it had a silver zipper with four large silver points at the end, making it look almost like a necklace. Roxas threw the shirt on and then his attention was drawn to a short sleeved white jacket strewn across the floor which had gray along the bottom of the sleeves, a checkered pattern around the front and tops of the sleeves, and a collar that was a dark inner red. The jacket covered the black shirt nicely. Next Roxas found a pair of black pants with cream-colored leggings that went up to the knees, the color just a little bit darker then the jacket but matched it perfectly. Roxas pulled them on.

He looked down at himself and felt satisfied, somehow knowing he found the right thing, this was him, and almost felt like smiling but repressed it. He also had the desire to show Olette although he couldn't figure out the reason why. Without even glancing in the mirror Roxas left the dressing room, seeing Olette almost instantly, waiting patiently with her arms free. The blonde didn't know were she managed to stash all the clothes from earlier, especially since she kept giving him new ones. Roxas spread his arms out. "What about this?"

The burnet's eyes widened and she made a squeal the mimicked the one from when Roxas first asked her for help. She ran up to him and smiled widely, looking the outfit up and down. "Roxas that looks so good on you! You look amazing. It's perfect!"

"Really?"

"Yes! Don't you think so?"

"I didn't look in the mirror yet."

"Oh" Olette said, appearing a bit surprised. "Well in that case." The girl took his arm and drew him back inside the dressing room so they were both standing in front of the mirror. "Look then. What do you think?"

Roxas stared at his reflection, not used to seeing himself with out his Organization XIII robe. The clothes he was wearing made him seem completely different, almost normal, younger. Roxas lifted a finger and traced his reflection in the glass. "It's me." He whispered. "It's really me."

"Of course it's you." Olette said as she peered over his shoulder. "Who else would it be?"

"I look like a kid" Roxas said, his voice coming out dry.

Olette smiled. "We are kids but I know what you mean. It doesn't make you look like a kid Roxas. It looks really really good."

"No more clothes shopping now. Alright? We're done." Roxas said without turning away from the mirror.

Olette stepped away a little from the blonde's shoulder. "Alright, no more clothes shopping but you still need shoes and accessories!"

Roxas's face paled and he turned his head to meet Olette's eyes. "What?"

"That outfit would look even better with a bracelet and don't give me I'm a boy, I can't wear jewelry because you can. You also need new shoes unless you want to keep wearing those boots. It would be a shame if you did since they don't go with the outfit at all and they look really uncomfortable." Olette managed to say all in one breath.

Despite himself, Roxas smirked. "You don't give up do you?"

"Nope! Now lets get some shoes. Follow me!" Olette half walked and half ran to another part of the store. Roxas slowly followed.

Finding shoes hadn't been too bad and not nearly as time consuming. Roxas picked out a pair of tennis shoes that were dark gray with white bottoms and had a black design at the top that was outlined in white. He found them quickly enough and only needed Olette to help him with the sizes. The burnet was right, they were a lot more comfortable then the heavy leather boots.

Now they were looking at the jewelry Roxas had seen earlier. There was a multitude of it and most of it was flashy, either silver or gold plated or covered with plastic stones but Olette was instantly captivated with it. Roxas picked through it, pushing most of it aside, trying to find something simple. It wasn't long before he spotted a black and white checkered bracelet, looking it over, he found he liked the pattern and the bracelet matched his jacket if nothing else. The blonde held it out in front of him so Olette could see. Roxas would never admit it but it was kind of nice having someone to talk to while he did this. He was nearly starting to get the hang of this whole shopping thing. "How about this?"

Olette turned away from the assortment of rings she was going through. "It matches your jacket. I like it!" The burnet said while unknowingly repeating Roxas's thoughts from earlier. "You're really good at picking things out. Are you sure you've never done this before?"

"Positive."

'If you say so" Olette said dismissively before she went back to the heap of rings, quickly picking up two of them and giving them to Roxas. "Here, and I found these."

Roxas glanced over the rings, one black and the other white. He tried them and the bracelet on.

"It's perfect!" Olette said happily.

Roxas secretly agreed but he was no where near as excited. "Now we're done right?"

"Yep, all we have to do now is pay for it."

Roxas and Olette made their way to the front counter and stood in the small line. Then a shout came from just outside the store. "Hey Olette! I can see you in there! You better not try to hide!"

Both Roxas and Olette looked up, seeing two boys standing at the entrance. The one who had shouted had slicked back blonde and wavy hair, was wearing a black shirt with white designs laced up the front, and a silver necklace that was dangling loosely from his throat. He also had on a gray vest and green camo pants and shoes. The other boy was slightly overweight with wild dark brown hair held back by a red headband, wearing blue jeans and a red T-shirt that read 'Dog Street'.

Olette took a couple of steps out of the line and away from Roxas, so she could see the two boys better. "What Hayner?" She shouted back.

"What have you been doing? Pence and I have been waiting at the food court for you for over two hours!"

Olette gasped and lifted the palm of her hand to her mouth. "Ooops, sorry I forgot!"

"Yeah Olette" The brown haired boy echoed. "I know how you get when you're shopping but this is ridiculous."

Someone in the line coughed and shot Olette a reproachful look. The girl gave an apologetic grin and instantly lowered her voice. "Sorry guys! I'm almost done. Come wait for me inside."

"We're not stepping in there." The blonde said dryly.

Olette's eyes glistened with a threatening look. When she spoke there was a challenge to her voice. "Why? You're not afraid to enter a clothing store are you?"

"No we're just smart." The brown haired boy replied easily. "We're not coming in, at least while you're in there."

The blonde turned his head and said something to the other boy that Roxas couldn't hear but it made both of them choke back laughter.

Olette mocked scowled. "Fine, just wait there. I'll be outside in a minute."

Olette turned back to Roxas with a small grin. "Sorry Roxas, ignore them. Lets just pay for this and I'll introduce you."

"I'm leaving after this." Roxas said blandly.

"Awe c'mon it will only take a second. Hayner, Pence, and I were going to get lunch. It'll be a really late lunch now but you can come with us. I bet you have to be hungry after shopping for so long. I know I am."

Roxas thought about it. He was planning on getting food and Olette's offer did sound tempting. If nothing else Olette could show him where the food court was. 'Fine" Roxas said as if he was doing Olette a favor.

"Great!"

Roxas paid for his clothes without incident. He'd gotten quite a bit, his new outfit plus a few other things to change into, and all the essentials like socks. Fortunately, the peppered haired woman from earlier wasn't there. Roxas walked with Olette up to the front of the store so they were standing in front of the two boys.

"Hi guys!" Olette said happily. "I want you to meet Roxas. See I had a good reason for being late. I was helping him shop!"

"You still got carried away Olette" The brown haired boy said smugly.

"Yeah well…" Olette trailed off, not knowing how to reply. Then her face brightened and she touched Roxas lightly on the shoulder. "Roxas these are my best friends." Olette motioned to the brown haired boy and then the blonde. "This is Pence and Hayner."

Pence glanced at Roxas, taking in the various cuts and bruises that lined his skin, looking a bit surprised and vaguely nervous. "Hi Roxas." Pence said slowly as he extended his hand. "Umm are you okay? You look kind of beat up."

'Fine." Roxas said without taking the offered hand.

Pence let his arm drop back to his side, not really seeming to be put off by Roxas's reaction. "Okay that's good I think…"

Hayner had his arms crossed, glaring daggers at Roxas, and turned his head to Olette. "Olette what are you doing with him it looks like you picked him up off a street corner."

"Hayner be nice!" Olette gave Roxas a remorseful look. "He didn't mean it Roxas."

"I don't care." Roxas replied blandly.

"He looks fine" Olette continued. "A lot better then when he first entered now that he has new clothes. Oh! And Roxas is coming to eat with us."

Pence smiled uncomfortably and Hayner looked like he wanted to throw something.

The four of them walked in stony silence toward the food court. "How long have you been in Twilight Town Roxas?" Olette asked, trying desperately to start a conversation. "Is this your first time here? Did you just move here? You never really answered my question from before."

"I just moved here." Roxas replied. "But no I've been in Twilight Town before."

"Really?" Olette asked. She and Pence looked curious and even Hayner seemed mildly interested.

"I've been here a few times and I was born here but I don't really remember that part. It's vague."

"Of course you're not going to remember it." Pence pointed out with a chuckle in his voice.

"Did you leave Twilight Town right after you were born then?" Olette questioned.

"Kind of, Xemnas found me almost instantly afterwards or least he told me he did. That was a little over a year ago."

Pence and Olette were looking at him blankly while Hayner was smirking. "Roxas that doesn't make any sense." Olette said.

"You're about fifteen right?" Pence asked. "Are you even listening to yourself? You just implied you were born a year ago and who's Xemnas?"

"Maybe your boyfriend is on drugs Olette." Hayner commented out of no where.

Olette frowned. "Stop it Hayner. I told you to be nice."

Roxas looked over to Pence, Hayner, and Olette. Pence and Olette were glancing at him with perplexed expressions while Hayner still seemed satisfied about something. Roxas hadn't spoken to many others outside of the organization and he hadn't even been thinking about what he said. Not that he cared what Pence, Hayner, and Olette knew but he needed to be more careful, saying whatever he wanted would only cause unwanted questions and confusion. His new acquaintances wouldn't understand and Xemnas wasn't a safe topic to talk about for anyone involved. "Yeah, I'm fifteen. Just forget it. Never mind."

The four of them lapsed back into silence but it wasn't long afterwards until they came to the food court. Roxas could smell the grease from sizzling meat before he entered it, making his mouth water and his stomach lurch painfully.

Olette looked to have picked up on Roxas's hunger, gasping she lifted both of her hands to her mouth, looking completely horrified. "Oh my gosh! I just thought of something!"

"What?" Pence asked.

"Well it sounds like Roxas doesn't know Twilight Town too much so that means he's probably never tried sea-salt ice cream!"

Roxas looked at Olette skeptically. "What?"

"You've got to try it Roxas." Olette said excitedly. "You don't know what you're missing and it's only in Twilight Town."

Roxas didn't appear convinced. "There's ice cream that tastes like salt?"

Pence rose a hand to his mouth, trying to hold back laughter. "Everyone says that but it's really good. It's hard to describe. You'll see when you try it."

The four of them entered the food court. Roxas could hear the buzzing of conversations but he felt instantly relived when he realized there weren't that many people. The food court was large and everyone was spread out. Roxas spotted a table that was in the back and out of the way. He quickly headed past Pence, Hayner, and Olette, not glancing back or caring if they followed him or not. His uncomfortable feeling of being around so many others hadn't diminished any and he automatically found himself scanning the food court for any possible threats. Not finding anything, Roxas sat down heavily in one of the chairs, kicking his bags of clothes underneath the table.

Pence, Hayner, and Olette soon joined him. Olette put her shopping bags on the floor, next to his and sat beside him. Pence took the chair directly across from him while Hayner sat in the last remaining chair that was also the furthest away. Pence and Olette dug into their pockets, taking out two munny bags.

"It's your turn to order Olette." Pence said off handily.

The girl pouted. "Why me?"

"Because I did it last time."

Olette gave a slight smile "Oh right!"

The girl stood up and Pence handed her some munny. Roxas wondered if he should also give her some but he noticed Hayner hadn't, feeling it would be better to be safe, Roxas took out his munny bag. Olette lifted her hand and shook her head. "Don't worry Roxas. I'm paying. Think of it as my welcome back to Twilight Town present and for going shopping with me"

Roxas put his munny bag back up. "Thanks"

Olette turned to the group. "Sure! So the usual guys?"

Pence and Hayner nodded. Then Olette glanced at Roxas. "Is that okay with you Roxas? Or what would you like? We just all know what each other wants by now so we don't even have to ask anymore."

"It's fine. I don't care what it is"

"Great, I'll be back in a few minutes" Olette said as she turned around and walked off to one of the many fast food restaurants.

With Olette gone, Roxas could almost taste the tension in the air. Hayner was leaning backwards, making the chair balance on its back two legs, his arms folded with a scowl on his face, looking anywhere but at Roxas. Pence on the other hand was staring right at him with wide eyes and his mouth partially open. Roxas glanced away, waiting for Olette to come back. Several minutes later Roxas could still feel Pence's eyes on him, soon finding he had enough and that he couldn't ignore it any longer, Roxas jerked his head around and narrowed his eyes. "What?" He snapped.

Pence blinked, looking a bit taken back. "It's… nothing really. I was just wondering…"

"What?" Roxas asked again.

"How did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Survive shopping with Olette?"

Roxas looked blank. That was the last thing he expected. "Huh?"

Pence hugged himself and shuddered. "Whenever I see her go within ten feet of a clothing store I hide. I've got to hand it to you Roxas you're a lot braver then me. Olette's scary when she shops."

It was at that moment when Olette chose to come back, balancing a tray in one hand while holding four sea-salt ice cream bars in the other. Setting everything down on the table, she shot Pence a menacing look and punched him playfully on the shoulder. "Am not!"

"You are too!" Pence replied.

Pence turned his head so he was speaking to Roxas. "Get this Roxas. One time I needed to get some new shoes and Olette came with me. We were in the shoes store for two hours and I came out with five pairs of shoes." Pence held his hand up so he was showing five fingers. "Five Roxas. Count them five."

Roxas was at a loss on what to say. Luckily Olette sat back down beside him and saved him from a reply. "Stop trying to corrupt Roxas, Pence. It's not his fault you're afraid of a little shopping."

"Right a little" Pence said dryly, poking at an ice cream bar and quickly moving to another topic. "You bought ice cream before we ate lunch Olette? It's going to melt."

Olette looked somewhat guilty. "I thought this one time we could eat the ice cream first. I really want to know what Roxas thinks of it."

Pence beamed. "Heh right! I'm not complaining" The burnet picked up the rest of the ice cream bars and handed one to Olette, Hayner, and Roxas. Hayner who still had yet to say anything since they sat down, grabbed his ice cream from Pence and a sandwich off the tray, swiftly looking away again and biting into his ice cream defiantly. Pence and Olette didn't seem to be paying any attention to the blonde's behavior, instead they were watching Roxas eagerly.

"Try it Roxas" Olette urged.

Roxas raised the ice cream bar to his mouth, taking a large bit out of it. It didn't taste like salt but there was a sharp tang, mostly it was just overwhelmingly cold and sweet, a lot sweeter then what he was used too. The ice cream felt strange and gritty in his mouth and Roxas soon found he was unable to swallow, throat closing around it, the pale blue of the ice cream gushing out from in between his teeth. Roxas quickly brought his hands up to his face, catching the liquid in his palms before it had a chance to splash onto the table. Pence and Olette were looking at him worriedly while Hayner was snickering from behind the back of his hand.

Roxas stared up at the blonde and at once Hayner's eyes narrowed. Roxas glanced back down to his hands, sticky and glistening with the blue liquid. Looking back at Hayner, Roxas lifted his hands to his lips, proceeding to lick the substance off. Hayner grimaced, hastily adverting his eyes. Roxas finished licking his hands clean to see Olette and Pence staring at him with twin looks of disgust.

There was a stretch of silence before Pence finally broke it. "Man, what you did. That was so gross."

Pence looked like he was waiting for a reply and Olette was still staring at him. Roxas felt the need to say something. "I've never had ice cream before."

"Never?" Pence asked doubtfully

"No"

Pence shot Roxas an incredulous look.

"I like it" Roxas added.

Olette smiled awkwardly. "Maybe you should try licking it Roxas…the ice cream I mean." Olette then demonstrated the action with her own ice cream.

Roxas felt a bit antagonized but his ice cream was beginning to melt and starting to run down his hand again. He lifted it back to his lips and copied Olette. It was still cold, the thick sugary consistency hadn't changed, and it took some getting used to but soon Roxas found he could swallow it easily and he really did like the taste of it.

Pence took the three remaining sandwiches off the tray and the cups of water, handing them out. Roxas unwrapped his sandwich, which was nothing more then turkey with lettuce, mayonnaise, and tomato on some type of overly large bread that he couldn't identify. The blonde tried it. The sandwich was a lot different from any of the food back at the castle in The World That Never Was, fresh for one thing. At the back of his mind Roxas knew it was good but he disregarded the taste. It was food and stilled his hunger. That was the only important thing, taste didn't matter as long as he was finally eating.

"So what do you guys want to do next?" Olette asked.

Pence shrugged. "I have no idea."

"I was thinking we could get started on our summer homework." Olette suggested

Hayner and Pence both groaned. "C'mon Olette" Pence said through a mouthful of food. "We still have over a week before school starts. We can do it tomorrow."

"But if we do it now then we'll have it out of the way." Olette said cheerfully.

"Whatever" Hayner said neutrally. "What do you want to do it on?"

Pence scrunched his eyes up in thought before his face lit up. "I know! We can do it on the seven wonders of Twilight Town."

Olette smiled. "That's fine with me. So then I guess we're going to Sunset Hill after this?"

Hayner nodded approvingly. "Yeah fine, good idea Pence."

"Yeah" Pence continued, voice rising in excitement. "It's not at Sunset Hill but I heard there's this haunted mansion through the woods and if you look into the second story window you can see this girl inside."

Roxas nearly choked again. "Lets stay away from the mansion."

Hayner glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes. "Scared?" The blonde said mockingly. It was the first time Hayner had spoken directly to Roxas.

"No…" Roxas trailed off, searching for a reasonable answer. "But when I first got to Twilight Town I saw the mansion. It looked… interesting so I went inside of it. There's nothing in there but rotting wood and dust. Go if you want. You won't find anything."

Hayner snorted but didn't reply.

"Well if we're going to Sunset Hill we won't have time to go to the mansion anyway." Olette resolved. "So what about you Roxas? I'm sure you've transferred schools. What's your summer homework on? Or are you doing Twilight Town's homework? Whatever it is you can do yours with us…unless you already did it, then you can just come with us to see Sunset Hill. It's really pretty. I'm sure you'll like it"

"I don't go to school" Roxas answered.

Hayner, Pence, and Olette were looking at him in a mixture of disbelief and amazement. "You don't?" Olette asked weakly.

"No, I've never been to school in my life."

"Don't your parents care!" Pence blurted out.

"I don't have parents." Roxas replied easily.

Pence and Olette gaped at him, eyes widening. Hayner on the other hand seemed to come out of his initial shock and just narrowed his eyes.

"Seriously?" Olette breathed out.

"Seriously"

"Wow" Pence whispered.

Olette looked instantly regretful, almost to the point where Roxas could have sworn she was trying to blink back tears. "We're sorry Roxas! We didn't know. Why-why don't you have parents?"

Roxas shrugged and took another bite of his sandwich. "Don't be. I'm not. I don't want to talk about it."

"Then where are you staying?" Olette pressed "If you don't have any parents? A relative?"

"I'm not staying anywhere. Last night I slept out on the bench beside the mall."

"Way to go Olette" Hayner said sarcastically. "You just picked up some deranged homeless kid."

Olette glanced at Hayner. "I…" At a loss for words she quickly turned back to Roxas. "Roxas, you really don't have a place to stay?"

"I'll find something" Roxas said dismissively.

Pence leaned forward in his chair and rested his chin in his hands. "Yeah, but we can't just let you sleep outside somewhere."

"I'll get a hotel. There are hotels here right?"

"There's a few but you don't need a hotel Roxas. Their so expensive. I know what you can do!" Olette said as if she just found the magical solution. "You can stay with Hayner. It's perfect since his mom is out for the next few days."

Hayner jerked his head toward Olette, glaring angrily at her. "What?! No Olette!"

"Come on Hayner"

"No!"

"Why not?"

Hayner fisted his hands, looking like he half wanted to lash out at the nearest living thing and half sigh in exasperation. "Because I've only known him for an hour at the most, for all we know he could be lying to us, he looks like he's on the run or something, and you just happened to find him walking around in the mall or wherever you found him. Now you want him to spend the night at my house?!"

"I'm not lying." Roxas said dully. "And stop talking about me in the third person."

Hayner glanced at Roxas, about to snap back a retort when Olette intervened. She leaned over the table and touched the back Hayner's hand, giving him her best smile. "Please Hayner."

Hayner turned his head to Olette and met her eyes with a stony expression, lowering his voice. "Olette. No."

Olette slumped back against her chair. "Hayner-"

"No, how many times are you going to make me repeat myself?"

"Actually that could work" Pence said thoughtfully before Olette had a chance to answer Hayner. "If Roxas could stay with Hayner for a few nights then we could probably find him a job. Then he could rent a place. Twilight Town has a lot of single rooms to rent. They're really cheap too. I heard the poster guy was looking for some help."

"That's right!" Olette said, the excitement returning to her voice. "The last guy quit. I don't remember why."

"He broke his leg after he fell off the skateboard, trying to grind a rail or something" Pence supplied. The brunet then looked nervously toward Roxas. "You can skateboard, right Roxas?"

"Skateboard?" Roxas asked with a bit of annoyance seeping into his tone. "How would I know?"

Pence looked like he didn't know how to respond and smiled uncomfortably, shrugging off Roxas's question. Olette didn't take any notice and looked back to Hayner. "See Hayner, it'll work really well. Please."

Pence too turned to Hayner with a hopeful expression. The blonde seemed defeated and sighed deeply, letting his elbows rest against the table top, putting his head in his hands, clutching at his hair. "Fine" he muttered. "He can stay with me as long he keeps out of my way. A couple of nights and that's it. After that he's on his own."

Pence looked vaguely relieved.

Olette smiled brightly. "Thanks! You won't regret it Hayner." The girl then glanced at Roxas. "That's okay with you, right Roxas? If you stay with Hayner for a couple of days?"

Roxas was silent for a moment. He'd been in Twilight Town less then a day and he thought he was doing pretty good. He had clothes, gotten food, and now he had a place to stay for the time being anyway. From the way Pence and Olette were talking he may even have a possible way to get munny. The last thing Roxas had expected was their help, the blonde nobody being used to functioning independently but he could also take advantage of a situation. "It's better then trying to find and paying for a hotel or sleeping outside."

Pence cleared his throat. "Hey Roxas" He said reflectively. "I was thinking how did you wind up back in Twilight Town exactly?"

"I don't remember" Roxas replied shortly.

"You don't remember?" Pence confirmed.

"No, I don't have any memories of my past. I can remember the past year and that's it. I've been living out in streets, the darkness, and the rain. I don't know how I woke up in Twilight Town. I was just here." It was the closest to the truth Roxas could come. At least it wasn't a flat out lie and might even make Pence and Olette stop asking him so many questions but with the way they were blinking at him again, Roxas doubted it. Hayner just looked even more ticked off.

"You mean like amnesia." Olette questioned.

"If that's what you want to call it."

"So let me get this straight" Pence said, sounding as if he hadn't made up his mind on what to believe yet. "You've been living on the streets, you don't remember anything at all except for the past year, and you don't even know how you got to Twilight Town?"

"Yes, that's what I said."

Off of Roxas's last statement Hayner stood up angrily from his chair, making it scrape loudly against the floor, grabbed his half eaten sandwich and slammed his other hand down on the table, hard enough to make Pence and Olette jump. "I think I've suddenly lost my appetite." He snapped.

Hayner turned around and stalked away from the group. "I'll meet you on the top of Sunset Hill" He grounded out over his shoulder before he disappeared into the maze of tables and chairs.

Olette trailed her friend with her eyes. "What's wrong with Hayner? I know he gets into these moods sometimes but I've never seen him act like this."

"I don't know" Pence said without concern. "But I wouldn't worry he probably just needs some time to cool down."

Olette nodded and Roxas brushed the whole thing aside, quickly going back to finishing his sandwich.


	7. Integration part 2

Chapter 6: Integration Part 2

Roxas could easily see where Sunset Hill had gotten its name. It was a large hill that stretched out so far it looked to reach the sky, covered with dried grass and away from the main part of Twilight Town but it still over looked a large portion of it. Climbing Sunset Hill had taken longer then Roxas expected. There wasn't much at the top, only a flat plane covered with wispy dirt where the grass didn't reach but it was an ideal place to stretch out on. A fence went around the top edge, unsteady, low to the ground, and wooden, looking as if it could blow over with the wind at any moment. Sunset Hill and everything surrounding it seemed basically deserted. Roxas was glad for that simple fact and at finally being out of the mall, not feeling nearly as closed in.

Roxas had left with Pence and Olette. The three of them quickly found Hayner, waiting at the top just like he said he would be. On Roxas's arrival, Hayner had glanced at him briefly and then went right back to ignoring him. Now Hayner, Pence, and Olette were in their own circle. Olette was in the middle with Hayner and Pence on either side of her. She had out a piece of paper and pencil, taking notes for their homework project that they had yet to start on. Roxas was a few feet away, facing the fence and leaning against it without putting any weight on it. He felt oddly excluded.

Roxas knew he must have been waiting for at least two hours. Hayner, Pence, and Olette were still arguing over their homework project or writing it, Roxas wasn't sure anymore. The blonde nobody would have been gone a long time ago if he wasn't supposed to be staying at Hayner's place. The sun was setting by now. Twilight Town had the most beautiful sunsets, which was really strange since the town was always cast in various colored shadows and it was hard to even tell what time of day it was. Although, when the sun set it was as if the whole sky had been set on fire, the sun and all of the colors looking to dance and come alive. Roxas found himself watching it, captivated. He'd seen sunsets before but they were few and far in between.

"Sorry Roxas, we're almost done." Olette said breaking him out of his trance.

'Yeah" Pence added. "We're still writing up the outline but we are going to have to came back here tomorrow and actually find the seven wonders."

"We'll finish it tomorrow" Olette agreed. "Sorry for making you wait so long Roxas. Give us ten more minutes."

"Yeah" Roxas said distantly, focusing his attention back to the sky.

There was the unexpected sound of crunching twigs and light footsteps. Hayner, Pence, and Olette glanced up. Roxas turned around.

There was a girl leisurely making her way towards them. She had short icy blue-silver hair that fell over one eye and was wearing a sleeveless zipped up blue shirt and tan pants aligned with several pockets.

"What are you doing here Fuu?" Hayner snapped.

The girl tilted her head. "Trespassers" She said in a sing song voice.

"We were here first." Hayner countered. "Shouldn't you be at the Sandlot or something?"

Fuu clicked her tongue and shook her head, pointing accusingly at Hayner "Forgot"

"What did we forget?" Pence questioned.

Fuu pointed back to herself. "Plans. Reservation."

"Fuu just leave us alone" Surprisingly it was Olette who'd spoken. "Like Hayner said we were here first besides we are leaving soon anyway. Then Sunset Hill is all yours"

Fuu crossed her arms and stared down at the trio. "Irrelevant"

"Are Rai and Seifer with you?" Pence asked with a barely noticeable tremor in his voice.

Fuu didn't answer, giving a half smile and shrugging one shoulder.

Hayner stood up, Olette and Pence soon following suit. "Lets go guys we'll finish the homework later."

Hayner, Olette, and Pence began to walk away. Roxas turned to follow, not knowing what all the hostility toward Fuu was about but not really wanting to find out either, plus his room for the night was leaving. Roxas took a step forward when Fuu turned her head, spotting him. "Unfamiliar."

"Right…" Roxas answered.

Olette turned back to glance at Roxas, motioning to him with one arm. "C'mon lets go Roxas." She then quickly raced to catch back up with Hayner and Pence. Roxas began once more to walk after them. Hayner, Pence, and Olette didn't get very far before their path was abruptly blocked by two boys.

There was a blonde with an over sized dark gray cap wrapped around his head. He had on a long white jacket, a short blue shirt that revealed his toned stomach, and baggy pants that were a cross between dark purple and blue. The other had short brown hair and was well muscled with a dark skin tone. A large silver chain with a lightening bolt stood out against his orange tank top which had curling white and black designs going up the collar, both clashing with his dark blue baggy pants.

The blonde who looked to be the leader smirked and advanced on Hayner, Pence, and Olette, forcing them to take a step back. "You going somewhere punks?"

Hayner leaned forward and straightened his shoulders, trying to make himself look taller, rebelliously meeting the blonde's gaze. "What do you want Seifer?"

"You're on our territory." Seifer replied.

Hayner narrowed his eyes. "Since when is Sunset Hill your territory? Besides we can go where we want, regardless of whatever you say."

Seifer shook his head. "Tsk..Tsk…Don't you remember the struggle match deal?"

Pence placed a hand to his forehead. "Oh right that."

Hayner looked blankly up at Seifer. "Huh?'

"Clueless" Fuu said from where she was still standing by Roxas.

Seifer smiled and turned to the orange tank top wearing teen beside him. "Right clueless, so clue them in Rai"

Rai blinked, surprised Seifer had asked him for a moment before he quickly covered it up with a grin. "We had plans on Sunset Hill y'know and we didn't want you three around because you always seem to get in the way and mess everything up y'know. Hayner didn't think that was fair so he and Seifer made a bet at the struggle match two weeks ago, that whoever won would stay off of Sunset Hill for the rest of the month y'know. But Seifer won of course like always y'know."

"Is that why Vivi isn't with you because you have plans?" Olette asked.

Seifer placed a hand on his hip. "Hmm…something like that"

"I don't get it" Olette replied. "What's so important that you have to do up here anyway?"

Seifer lips quirked upwards. "Wouldn't you like to know? But I'll give you a hint. It could have something to do with wracking havoc on the town"

"Fine" Hayner said bitterly. "A deals a deal. It doesn't matter anyway, we were just leaving so move so we can."

Seifer mock saluted. "Aye aye captain." He and Rai then stepped aside to make room for Hayner, Pence, and Olette to pass.

"We'll be seeing you punks later" Seifer said with a deep throated laugh.

"You're so mature Seifer" Olette said sarcastically.

Roxas who'd been keeping silent and indifferently out of the way since the whole exchange, prepared to leave for the third time when Seifer picked his head up from his laughter, his eyes falling on Roxas, at last noticing him. Seifer lifted a hand out in front of himself. "Wait wait wait, hold on a minute. Who is this?"

"Leave him alone Seifer" Pence said tiredly. "He's just our new friend. He hasn't done anything to you."

Hayner looked from Seifer to Roxas, seeming interested. "Actually Olette found him in the mall. We have no idea where he's from. He says he can't remember anything."

Pence gave Hayner a hard look. "Stop it Hayner."

Fuu walked back over toward Rai and Seifer, standing beside Rai, she pointed back at Roxas. "Outsider" She accused.

"That's very interesting" Seifer said as he smirked dangerously and headed toward Roxas.

Rai grinned. "Seifer has a way with dealing with new kids but if he's an outsider to Twilight Town that's a whole other story y'know."

Seifer reached Roxas and leaned over him. "Yo new kid. You have a name?"

Roxas had taken back to leaning against the fence and let his eyes flicker to Seifer, unimpressed, face emotionless. "Roxas"

"Well Roxas. We have a welcoming committee here in Twilight Town for new kids, so let me introduce myself. I'm Seifer." Seifer then motioned to the silver haired girl and the tank top wearing teen. "And those are my friends Fuu and Rai."

"I gathered that" Roxas said dully.

Seifer scowled. "Do you know who you're talking too?"

Roxas couldn't help but to snicker at the irony of the question. "A nobody?"

Seifer hands visibly clenched. "You know something I really don't like your attitude."

"That makes two of us."

Seifer was quickly growing upset. No one had ever spoken to him the way Roxas had. All the other kids in Twilight Town respected him and knew their place. Seifer jabbed Roxas on the shoulder with a finger, waiting to get some kind of reaction out of him besides the emotionless facade. "You want to say that again punk?"

Roxas glared at him, moving away from the fence. "Don't touch me" His voice was deadly calm.

Seifer grinned and pushed Roxas harder, making the blonde nobody lose his footing for a moment. "Looks like I struck a nerve."

"Seifer stop it!" Olette shouted frantically from the background. "Leave him alone!"

Seifer looked over his shoulder, seeing Fuu and Rai were in front of Pence, Hayner, and Olette, having the trio completely blocked, in case one of them decided to help out Roxas. However, it didn't look like there was much chance on Hayner at least following through with that, a cold expression was on his face and he was looking away. Seifer appeared pleased with the situation, ignoring Olette he turned back to Roxas, surprised to see the blonde smiling at him.

"I'm going to give you another chance." Roxas said unhurriedly. "If you lay so much as one more finger on me again, I'll make sure you regret it."

Seifer bit his lip. There was something about the way Roxas was staring at him that put him off, like Seifer was no more then an annoying insect. Roxas had his eyes narrowed slightly and the way he was standing was relaxed but he looked liked he was ready to murder anything that came at him. Roxas's voice had been low and solid, everything about him, warning of danger. Hayner, Pence, and Olette had even fallen motionless and quiet as they watched the scene play out in front of them. Fuu and Rai also didn't seem like they knew quite what to do.

Seifer felt his blood run cold and a brief moment of panic but quickly pushed the feeling aside and overrode it with detached irritation. He would not allow anyone to intimidate him, especially some outsider kid he just met. "What are you half my size!?" He shouted, taking in the cuts and bruises that lined Roxas's skin. "Besides you can't be that strong. It looks like you've been beaten up enough. I bet you had a mouth back wherever you came from too."

Roxas didn't even blink at the statement. "Come on I dare you then."

Seifer gritted his teeth and threw a punch at Roxas's head. Roxas easily dodged and in the same motion grabbed Seifer's forearm, jerking him backwards and down. In a fraction of a second it was over and Roxas had Seifer's larger form entirely pinned against the fence. Seifer was in an awkward position with the back of his head pressed into the splintery wood, exposing his throat, making it hard for him to swallow, and the rest of his body hanging limply and sprawled out on the ground. Roxas was standing over him, keeping him in place with a single hand wrapped around his neck.

Seifer was looking up at him with wide eyes, as if he was still trying to figure out what had happened. Roxas dug his thumb into the soft part of Seifer's throat with just enough pressure to make him gag. Seifer's face glazed over with fear, lifting both hands and wrapping them around Roxas's wrist, trying in vein to ease the pressure around his throat. "Man I'm sorry" Seifer was barely able to choke out. "I was kidding around. Okay I'm sorry. Let go of me."

Roxas slightly relented his grip. Seifer at once gasped for breath, forcing air back into his burning lungs. "If I let go" Roxas said "You leave."

"Okay! Okay!"

Roxas slowly released Seifer, the taller blonde standing up but instantly feeling used and humiliated. Roxas had taken him out like he was nothing and Seifer's pride and dignity meant everything to him, his expression changed from fear to unbridled anger. "You think you can treat me like that!? I won't let anyone make me look bad!" Seifer said sharply, immediately trying to use his new found mobility to gain the upper hand, aiming to catch Roxas off guard and kick him in the stomach.

Roxas was prepared and evaded. In another second Seifer's head was back against the fence and Roxas had his hand wrapped back around his throat. This time Roxas did not hesitate to bring his fist down on Seifer's face. The blonde's head was forced to the side, his nose instantly broken on impact. Blood rushed down his lips and dripped from his chin. Seifer didn't even have a chance to register what was happening before Roxas struck again and his jaw cracked with a sick wet crunch, Roxas's hand coming back with gleaming red.

Seifer was making pained gurgled sounds, clawing at Roxas's arm in a desperate effort to free himself. Shouting was coming from all directions but Roxas wasn't paying attention, striking over and over, not noticing Seifer's tightly shut eyes or when the pained sounds turned to strangled sobs, didn't notice how soon there was so much blood that with each strike it flew from Seifer's torn skin and splattered onto the thin covering of dirt below. In a matter of seconds nearly every inch of Seifer's face was tainted red, his hands falling lifelessly from Roxas's wrist as he stopped fighting back altogether.

There was the sound of snapping twigs and rushing air as Fuu and Rai ran towards him, each grabbing one of his shoulders. Roxas could feel Fuu's fingers pressing into his arm as she tried to force him back, her face hard but with conflicting anguish shinning through her eyes. "Enough" She said icily.

"This is going way to far. Let go of him!" Rai echoed her. His voice had lost all of its playful tone from before, now harsh and on the verge of terrified.

For all of their effort Fuu and Rai were not having much luck. Roxas could break their hold in a second, could call Oblivion and Oathkeeper, cut through Fuu's and Rai's vocal cords, and sever their heads before they even had a chance to blink. Roxas smirked to himself, removing his hand from Seifer's neck, the taller blonde immediately slumping forward without the support. Roxas placed his foot in the center of Seifer's chest, roughly holding him up against the wood, his body making a muffled thud on contact. With his hands freed and with a startling act of flexibly Roxas leaned backwards, grabbing Fuu's and Rai arms, brutally twisting.

Fuu cried out, falling to her knees and Rai cursed loudly before sharing her fate. Roxas let them go, turning back to Seifer.

"Roxas!" It was Olette's voice and laced with hysteria. "Stop it please!"

Roxas didn't look back at Olette but her voice was enough to make him pause and he wasn't sure how to proceed. Seifer was in front of him, barely breathing through the blood in his mouth and nose. Roxas didn't feel anything, only a numb sensation but looking at Seifer now, he'd forgotten why he was doing this. Roxas removed his foot, finding it useless, Seifer obviously wasn't going anywhere and he fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. Soon Roxas didn't have to worry about his indecision because it gave Fuu enough time to act.

The silver haired girl wedged herself between him and Seifer, dropping to the ground beside the blonde, wrapping her good arm around his shoulders, holding him up against herself. Her back was turned towards Roxas, shielding Seifer with her body, the side of Seifer's face right underneath her collar bone, and Fuu's head over his, her nose brushing the dark gray of his cap. "Stop" Her voice hitched and came out strained.

Olette and Pence were there a moment later, moving in front of Roxas, blocking him further from Fuu and Seifer, both staring at him in shock as if they'd never seen him before.

Olette's carefree and enthusiastic expression from earlier had changed, her large green eyes glimmering with guilt and fear. "Roxas…why?" She whispered and looked as if she wanted to say something else but quickly closed her mouth and swallowed.

"We kept yelling for you to stop." Pence said suddenly and disbelievingly. "Why didn't you?"

Roxas glanced down at his clenched hands still dripping with Seifer's blood, looking blankly back up at Pence and shrugging.

"You don't care. Do you?" Pence asked in astonishment.

"No" Roxas said aloofly. "I can't feel. It doesn't matter."

Pence studied him, face hard in thought. "It matters." He said at last.

"Seifer doesn't look so good y'know." Rai cut in shakily.

Pence and Olette glanced behind them. Fuu and Rai had laid Seifer out on his back and between the two of them. Rai had a hand on his friend's shoulder while Fuu had distanced herself somewhat, any venerability she showed from earlier was gone, now she just looked angry.

Seifer seemed to come alive at that moment, eyes blinking opened lethargically, an unfocused blue, glassy, and distant. The blonde moaned and curled onto his side as his fingers dug into the dry soil. Rai shifted his hand form Seifer's shoulder to his hack. "You okay?"

Seifer didn't answer, moving further so he was on his stomach, supporting himself with his forearms, and coughed violently. Flecks of blood fell from his split lip and pink tinted saliva stained the small bits of brown grass. Rai gripped Seifer's shoulders, helping him to sit up. The blonde nodded jerkily, trying to speak which only resulted in another round of coughing, and rubbed at his throat until it subsided. "Fantastic" He was able to choke out, voice low and harsh.

Rai chuckled deeply. "Nice to have you back man y'know."

"Should we call someone?" Olette asked softly.

Rai glanced up at her with an unreadable expression. "We've got him y'know"

Olette nodded. "Alright, if you're sure. If there's anything we can do…"

Olette was cut off when Fuu rose to her feet. The silver haired girl came between Pence and Olette so she was standing right in front of Roxas, her gaze heated and Roxas could see the pure hatred on her face. "Freak"

"Fuu help me out y'know" Rai called. He had Seifer's arm around his neck and was struggling to support him fully.

Fuu walked back over to Seifer, placing his other arm over her shoulders and Roxas didn't miss that the action caused her to wince. Fuu and Rai were able to balance Seifer's weight between the two of them. Seifer looked dead to the world again but he was able to move with their support. He didn't even glace at Roxas, choosing to look down toward the ground or to out of it to care, blood still running from his face. "Get me out of here"

"That's what we're doing y'know" Rai replied.

Fuu, Rai, and Seifer stumbled forward. As Fuu passed Roxas, she turned her head to meet his gaze and narrowed her eyes. Roxas had felt something behind Fuu's last comment. Somehow the silver haired girl unknowingly had voiced a part of the truth in only one simple word. Roxas stared back at her twice as hard. "Run" He said dangerously.

Fuu frowned, not seeming concerned but Rai blinked, looking highly troubled and picked up his pace. "It's best we leave Fuu y'know" Rai was nearly running and Fuu was forced to keep up with him so Seifer wouldn't slip. Grudgingly, Fuu turned her head away from Roxas and with one more piercing look the three of them were quickly gone.

Olette watched them until they were out of sight, looking torn before she seemed to decide something, turned away, and hastily walked off.

"Olette!" Pence called and followed after her.

Roxas was left with Hayner and glanced over at him. The blonde teen hadn't said or done anything throughout the whole ordeal, staying out of it and impassive. His back and one foot were resting against a tree, arms hanging limply at his sides. There wasn't the expression of fear and shock that Pence and Olette had worn. Hayner looked interested and perceptive, almost faintly amazed but his face instantly hardened when he realized Roxas was watching him. "That was smooth man real smooth" He said bitterly.

Roxas sighed and went after Pence and Olette, finding them quickly enough since they were only a little ways off and on the slope of the hill. Olette was sitting on a large rock with her elbows on her knees, holding her head, Pence sitting down beside her, both looking solemn. Roxas kneeled in front of them, neither Olette or Pence acknowledged him, not even glancing up.

"I'm sorry" Roxas didn't really know what he was apologizing for but he felt the need to say it.

Pence breathed deeply. "Don't worry about it."

Olette picked her head up. "Are you alright Roxas?"

Olette's question was not what Roxas anticipated and it took a few moments for him to register it completely. "I'm fine"

Olette smiled vaguely. "That's good. We were worried. When you didn't stop we weren't sure what to do."

"Is there something wrong with you?" Pence asked reluctantly. "I mean…"

"There's nothing wrong with me" Roxas shot back defensively. "I stopped right? Seifer walked away."

Pence gave a nervous chuckle. "Alright sorry I believe you. Its well you know with everything from before and now this. Just don't do it again. I know you said you don't remember where you've been before and I definitely have no idea either but you can't do things like that in Twilight Town."

"Right, got it."

Olette's eyelashes looked suspiciously wet and she lifted a hand to wipe at her eyes. "If you ever want to talk to us about anything Roxas. You know you can…because your our friend now."

Roxas wanted to deny it more then anything. The concept irritated him as much as it scared him, wanted to bite back a retort that would make the girl in front of him run and never look back but looking at Olette's and Pence's faces he realized he couldn't so Roxas remained silent.

Olette was already moving on. "Not that I'm approving of what you did Roxas but I guess if you look on the bright side Seifer, Fuu, and Rai aren't going to bother us anymore."

Pence smiled broadly. "That's an understatement." The burnet glanced at Roxas, eyes shining with building excitement. "Roxas where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Around"

"That's all you're going to say?" Pence asked sounding disappointed. "You totally owned Seifer, Rai, and Fuu in five seconds flat!"

Olette shook her head. "It was still an awful thing to do."

"I agree" Pence said quickly "But if Roxas is our friend then it's up to us to help him out and keep tabs on him to make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen again."

Olette nodded enthusiastically and Roxas groaned. "No, you really don't have to do that."

"Well you could be like our secret weapon" Pence added, making Roxas glare.

"Can we go now?" Hayner's voice came from immediately behind them, impatient and bland but it wasn't enough to lessen the recently established and easy atmosphere.

Olette by this time was holding back soft laughter. "Sure Hayner!' She said breathlessly.

0o0o0o0

It was dark or as dark as Twilight Town could get when Roxas arrived at Hayner's house. The door wasn't locked and Hayner pushed it opened carelessly and walked inside, followed shortly by Roxas.

Hayner's house was small. The carpet at one time looked liked it may have been a very light blue but was discolored with several large brown stains and flecked with dirt . Paint was peeling off in strips from tarnished white walls and the few windows the place contained were badly rusted, the glass cracked. A heavy smell of cigarette smoke lingered in the air, making Roxas fight back the urge to cough.

Hayner turned on the light to the living room. It flicked before it stayed on, casting a dim shadow. "Here we are" Hayner said mockingly. "Home sweet home."

"You live here?' Roxas asked vacantly.

Hayner shut the door behind him with a loud click. "Yeah, listen Olette and Pence know about some of what my home life is like. They've never been to my house before so they don't know it's this bad. Don't tell them. I'd like to keep it that way."

"Why would I? It makes no difference to me." Roxas returned easily.

Hayner stared at him a moment, before snorting, and walking through his living room, kicking several chip packages and aluminum cans that littered the floor out of the way. "You can have the couch" Hayner called from behind him before he disappeared into another room.

Roxas looked down at the couch. It was a stale shade of green, covered with cigarette burns, ripped in numerous places, and the stuffing was coming out. Roxas placed his shopping bags from earlier on the floor and sat down, letting himself lean against it, to tired and sore from the past two days to protest. The couch was about as comfortable as it looked, the hard frame and the springs jabbed at his back and legs. At least Roxas thought _it was better then a bench although not by much_.

After a minute Roxas dug through his shopping bags, looking for something to change into but not really finding anything, before Hayner reappeared from wherever he went, standing by a door that Roxas assumed must be the entrance to his room. "I didn't know if you had anything, so if you want you can barrow these" Hayner said before he threw a wad of clothing at Roxas's head.

Roxas automatically caught the clothes, holding them up to see a pale yellow T-shirt and red plaid drawstring pants. "Thanks"

"Don't thank me. I'm not doing this for you" Hayner said irritably and knocked on the door behind him with the back of his hand. "This is my room. Don't come in. You're in the living room. Behind you is the kitchen. Don't eat anything. Not that you'll find anything in there anyway" Hayner pointed down a short hallway. "My mom's room and the bathroom are at the end of hallway. Take a shower at least before you go to bed. You need it." Hayner said bluntly.

Without looking back Hayner slammed the door to his room and a minute later Roxas could hear muffled but heavy rock music.

Roxas stared up at the ceiling, eyes traveling over the many water stains. In truth a shower did sound like a very good idea, whatever Hayner's bathroom looked like. Roxas hadn't had a shower since he left the organization. In that time he'd slept outside and been basically covered with blood and other grime. The warm water would help to loosen his fatigued muscles and wash away the dirt from the lacerations on his skin. Roxas suddenly wanted a shower very badly.

Roxas gabbed the clothes Hayner had given him and picked himself up from off the couch. He made his way down to the end of the hallway, finding the bathroom almost instantly, and locked the door behind him. The lock was flimsily at best and the bathroom was cramped with a white tiled floor and cheap green wall paper but at least it was clean. Roxas stepped over to the tub, turning the hot water on all the way to full, only to have it came out freezing cold.

Roxas sighed, going to stand back in front of the sink, waiting for the water to heat up. A sour taste was in his mouth that had been with him all day, making him yearn for a toothbrush. Doing the next best thing, he turned the sink on, cupping the water in his hands, bringing it to his lips, before forcefully rinsing his mouth out.

He looked up at the small mirror hanging right over the sink, studying his reflection, almost not recognizing himself, his eyes hollow, face expressionless, wearing strange clothes, and in the home of some kid who obliviously didn't care for him and he'd only met hours ago. For an instant Roxas missed Axel and felt a sharp prang of homesickness, wanting to be back in The Castle That Never Was. That place had always been like hell but the familiarity was also there and so was his own room. Roxas pushed the thought aside and the desire was gone as soon as it had came.

Last night Roxas had fought for his own survival, summoned deadly keyblades, climbed a skyscraper, killed countless of heartless. He cut open a human's neck and watched him bleed. Roxas was lethal, a killer, the universe's fate lied within him, some of the most dangerous beings ever known in existence, wanted to control him, wanted him dead. The blonde nobody wondered how Olette, Hayner, and Pence would react if they knew this, they'd want to run away but be to terrified to move. The three of them could have never experienced the adrenaline rush of dangling between life and death. They never dragged themselves though a maze of twisting streets with broken bones, couldn't even begin to understand.

Roxas could enter Hayner's room with the heavy rock music and snap the blonde's neck in a split second before he ever knew what happened. Roxas felt entirely out of place. He was here, in Twilight Town, to have a chance at a new and different life, something he longed for but also detested, had made the decision to actually stay on the spur of the moment. Roxas chose to leave everything behind, to search for near nonexistent answers, and he found them more or less by some random streak of luck. He met his other but didn't know if that was enough to keep him happy, knew he didn't belong in Twilight Town. He could pretend but would never belong.

Just a week ago Roxas had delivered a report to Xemnas about the number of heartless he'd destroyed, voice cold and dead, eyes uncaring as he stared forward with out seeing. It was always the same when he delivered reports to Xemnas.

_How many?_

_894_

_How long?_

_Fifty two minutes_

_Status?_

_Five broken ribs. A torn ligament in my right knee. The keyblade slipped and sliced through my finger._

_Roxas held up his hand with out flinching, index finger nearly severed off, hanging on by a small strip of skin. _

_Very good. Take a potion. You may leave._

Roxas ran his hands under the water of the sink. It was hot by now, so was the water pouring out of the faucet from the tub. He could feel the steam in the air as it began to fog up the mirror. Water pooled in his palms and ran down his wrists, reminding him of the way blood flowed, exactly like Riku's blood that had all to recently coated his hands.

The memories of Riku, Roxas had gotten from when he first saw Sora flashed before his eyes again, unbidden and unwanted.

_He was running with Riku out on the beach. Riku was in front of him, kicking up sand and laughing._

_Riku was leaning against a tree, watching the ocean, a craving in eyes, a desperate need to escape. "If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one?" _

_Riku was standing before him with his hand outstretched while the darkness wrapped around his skin, dragging him under. _

_Then the memories faded into an endless night, concrete, rain, and Riku lying in a rain soaked street with his throat split open. Dark red spilled from his mouth as his lungs filled with blood. Roxas was over him, had laughed. The silver haired teen smiled up at him with trusting eyes. "Sssssooorrraaaa" Riku's voice was barely recognizable._

Roxas grabbed the yellow bar of soap from off the edged of the sink, a faint smell of pineapple hitting his nose. He felt suddenly unclean and pressed the soap into his hands, scrubbing hard before running them under the hot water.

Something DIZ said came back to him.

_Roxas was standing in front of the bandaged man in the computer room. DIZ's voice was strong and collected, sounding so sure of himself. "You were never supposed to exist. You are nothing, a mistake. The only way you can amount to anything is to join with Sora."_

Roxas gritted his teeth, forcing the soap harder into his flesh, washing his hands again.

_Blood covered every inch of Seifer's face and dripped from Roxas's fists. Seifer was sobbing and clawing at Roxas's arm, hopelessly trying to get free. _

"_We kept yelling at you to stop" Pence said "Why didn't you?"_

Roxas's hands were raw, starting to sting.

_Naminé had screamed his name, looking up at him, eyes shimmering with emotion that a nobody wasn't supposed to possess. _

_After all Axel had done, Roxas had told him off like he was nothing. Axel hit a brick wall "This is why you're always going to end up alone." _

_There was Xemnas, a man with a placid face and drilling voice who told Roxas over and over again that he was incapable of feeling. _

_There was Saïx with his cold sneer and quite brutality. _

_Then after everything it came down to Sora, drifting peacefully in a pod. Sora. The entire reason why he was here, who threatened everything he was, who he hated, who had all the answers but he would never be able to talk to. Roxas wanted nothing more then to bring the keyblade down onto his other's face._

Roxas found the soap wasn't enough and added his fingernails into the mix until he could feel his own blood.

_Fuu was before him, a look of loathing in her silvery eyes. "Freak"_

The blood ran from Roxas's fingers and splattered into the sink. He still didn't stop, losing track of time, washing and ripping away at his skin with hands that were capable of crushing bone. The water eventually cooled, making his hands go numb but he still did not feel clean.

There was a knock at the door and Hayner's voice. "Roxas what are you doing? You've been in there over an hour or at least that I know of."

Roxas ignored him, not looking away from the sink.

The knocking came louder. "Hey Roxas!"

Roxas could hear Hayner trying the handle and finding it locked, only making the door rattle. "I know you're in there. I can hear the water running open up!"

Roxas stopped tearing at his hands, letting the water run over them as it washed away some of the blood, and stared blankly back into the mirror in front of him. 'Go away' he hissed under his breath.

"Are you okay?"

The pounding at the door came back. "Roxas, answer me!"

Hayner pulled at the door again, lock scraping into the wood as it was strained backwards. "I can break this lock. If you don't answer me I'm coming in."

"Alright fine" Hayner shouted when Roxas failed to respond. "Don't say I didn't warn you. If you're dead in there or something its going to be on my head, so is the water bill."

Roxas heard nothing but silence for a moment. Then there was a low bang as Hayner crashed into the door, twisting the handle, frail lock breaking and the door flew open, leaving Hayner standing in the entryway. His eyes landed on Roxas, seeing the blood glistening and streaming down his hands, the white of the sink completely discolored with it.

Roxas and Hayner stared at each other, neither of them moving. Hayner was breathing hard with a look of disbelief and repulsion on his face. The teen blinked, quickly coming out of his trance and in the next instant ran the short distance to Roxas, turning the water off and grabbing Roxas's wrists, pulling them away from the sink. "What are you doing?!"

Roxas harshly jerked his arms out of Hayner's grip. "I could say I was feeling guilty for something but then I'd be lying."

Hayner's expression turned from panic to thunderstruck, half closing his eyes, looking intently into Roxas's face without replying, as if just coming to some kind of realization. Breathing deeply, Hayner stepped around Roxas and turned the water to the tub off, glanced back to the blood coated sink, and bit back a groan at the sight of it. "Look, my mom has a first aid kit in her room. I'm going to go get it. Alright? Just hang tight."

Hayner swiftly left the room, leaving Roxas alone. Not wanting to stay inside of the bathroom any longer, Roxas left it, making his way to the living room, and sitting back down on Hayner's torn couch.

Hayner's voice came from the hallway a minute later with a slight trace of alarm. "Roxas?"

"Here."

Hayner turned his head, spotting Roxas and ran into his living room, snatching a chair from the kitchen, he dragged it over to the couch, sitting down in front of Roxas, and laying a pearl gray tin out on his lap, his hands shaking badly. "I never thought this thing would come in handy. I guess my mom must be good for something after all." Hayner attempted a smile but it fell flat and he cast his eyes back down to the first aid kit.

Hayner had gotten the lid off and Roxas could see the kit contained gauze and disinfectant as well as other various things. Hayner picked up a roll of gauze but his hands were still trembling and he nearly dropped it. He fumbled with it, trying to unroll it. "Sorry I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to do. I've never done this before."

"I never would have guessed." Roxas said mockingly as he grabbed the first aid kit from Hayner, undoing the roll of gauze and tearing it into strips, using his mouth to help him as he expertly began to bandage his hands.

"You don't need any help?"

"I've got it" Roxas said without looking up.

Hayner's eyes traveled to Roxas's hands. They were cracked and the flesh was so badly shredded it looked grotesque. Red was instantly soaking through the white bandages. "Are you okay? You really did a number on yourself."

Roxas snorted. "This is nothing."

Hayner fell silent and watched Roxas for a minute. Roxas seemed detached, unconcerned like this sort of thing happened every day, tending to his hands with a quick and professional air that Hayner even with both hands free and unharmed could never hope to match. "This isn't the first time you've fixed yourself up before is it?"

"No, broken bones, gashes, torn muscles you name it, I've done it. Like I said this is nothing."

Hayner gave him an odd look.

"This is the first time its ever been self-inflicted and I'm not planning on repeating it anytime soon." Roxas added

"I wasn't going to ask that."

"Well now you know"

Roxas finished with his hands a second later. "That's good for now" he said as he gave the first aid kit back to Hayner. "I'm just going to have to redo it when I take a real shower anyway."

"That's not going to happen for a bit" Hayner replied while running a hand through his hair. "It takes awhile for the water heater to warm back up."

Roxas leaned back into the couch. "I can wait. It's not like I have anything better to do."

Hayner placed the first aid kit on a small coffee table that was directly beside him and glanced back to Roxas, looking like he wanted to say something but wasn't sure how to phrase it. Then he just seemed to give up altogether "You weren't lying were you… about the memory thing I mean."

"No"

"Yeah" Hayner said slowly. "Something happened to you out there. Didn't it? Something terrible happened. It seems kind of obvious now." Hayner then gave a weak try at a smirk. "Besides the broken bones and all that."

"I wouldn't know if I can't remember anything" Roxas replied casually. "But you could say that."

"I was thinking. You see I took this psychology class once. They said that if something really extreme happens to a person. They can block it out and even lose their past memories. Maybe that's what happened to you."

"It's as good as any other idea"

Hayner laughed nervously. "Right, sorry for being such a jerk earlier."

"Thanks" Roxas replied dryly.

Hayner turned his head away, somewhat uncomfortable, hesitating before he spoke next. "I thought you were… tying to get with Olette."

Roxas narrowed his eyes slightly. "I don't _get_ with anybody."

"That's fair" Hayner reassured. "But when I first saw you I didn't know what to think. You were all cut up and I didn't like the way Olette was acting like you were her best friend. I thought you were trying to take advantage of her or something. Then when you told us about your memory and not having anywhere to go I thought it was just a lame attempt at a sob story. You do have to admit it wasn't that believable."

Roxas shrugged. "I don't care. It's the truth."

"I believe you now, but you can see where I'm coming from right? Olette is my friend. I have to look out for her."

"Fine, don't worry about it" Roxas said dismissively.

Hayner nodded but didn't answer, getting up from his chair and dragging it back to the kitchen. Roxas let his head fall against the back of the couch, closing his eyes, entirely worn-out, only wanting this day to be over with. Maybe he could sleep for a couple of hours while the water heated back up. Roxas felt himself instantly drifting off when he heard the sound of a fridge door opening.

"Want some pizza?" Hayner suddenly called back.

Roxas snapped his eyes open "What?"

Hayner dug through the fridge, pulling out a large brown and oily pizza box. "I lied to you before, I've got some left over pizza. It's been awhile since we had lunch and I'm hungry so I thought you might be too. Do you want some? It's pepperoni."

Roxas did realize he was hungry now that Hayner had said something. Roxas only tried pizza once. Demyx loved it and Roxas had stolen a piece off him. Pizza wasn't Roxas's thing, honestly not caring for it one way or another but with his stomach growling at the mention of food he was more then willing to make an exception. "Pizza sounds good."

"Okay" Hayner said with a smile, taking down a plate from the cabinet, putting several pieces on it, and sticking it in the microwave. "Just don't try to gross me out again like you did with the ice cream."

Roxas faintly returned the smile "You're safe."

Hayner suppressed a laugh. The microwave beeped a couple of minutes later and Hayner walked back to the living room, balancing the pizza on one arm and a couple of napkins and cokes in the other, putting everything down on the coffee table right beside the first aid kit. The blonde teen sat down on the couch beside Roxas but at a comfortable enough distance away before instantly reaching for a piece. "You have had pizza before, right?" He asked with a smirk.

Roxas took a piece, trying it. The cheese was dripping, the pizza smelling heavily of grease, and it was slightly hard and stale but still good, tasting much better then Demyx's at least. "Yeah…once"

Hayner shook his head in denial. "Whatever you say Roxas."

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Hayner spoke next. "I'd ask if you'd want to watch a movie but the TV is kind of broken."

"Doesn't matter to me. I don't really watch TV anyway."

Hayner shrugged and they went back to eating. Then Roxas noticed Hayner was glancing at him oddly with his eyes deep in thought and expression conflicted like he wasn't sure what he wanted to say. "Can I ask you something?" Hayner said finally.

"Go for it."

"In the bathroom..why did you do that to yourself?"

Roxas swallowed a mouthful of pizza. The question was easy enough for him to answer, not even having to think it over. "It felt like something I needed to do at the time. I have no idea why I did it now."

"You said something about feeling guilty" Hayner's voice was reflective. "Was it because of Seifer?"

"It wasn't Seifer" Roxas said quickly. "Not most of it anyway" Roxas paused and took a breath. "Some things happened…I think it was mainly because of something…someone else. That's as much as I'm telling you"

"That's fine with me. I only wanted to know because if it was Seifer I was going to say not to worry about it. Seifer bullies everyone. I know you shouldn't have gone as far as you did but it's about time someone stood up to him. If you ask me that prick got everything he deserved."

Roxas took another piece of pizza. "If you say so. It's wasn't any big deal."

Hayner's face paled with surprise and his eyes widened in disbelief. "No big deal! That was really amazing how you fought like that! I've never seen anything like it. You told Pence you learned it from around, right? But that's not something you can just pick up. You must have really practiced it. Do you know how many kids would give their right arm to be able to do even half of what you did!?"

For an instant Roxas thought back again to last night when he had run up the side of a skyscraper, killed hundreds of heartless, and fought Riku, all in an intricate dance with two legendary and deadly keyblades. Roxas snickered. "That really was nothing."

"I should enter you in a struggle match and then take bets." Hayner continued as if he hadn't heard Roxas. "I'd win for sure!"

"What's a struggle match?"

Hayner grinned. "Tell you later"

Roxas didn't reply, instead picking up his soda, settling for taking a long drink of it.

"Would it kill you to talk a little more?" Hayner asked through a mouthful of pizza but with humor in his voice. "You're beginning to remind me of Fuu."

Roxas roughly set his soda back down on the coffee table. "Why?" he snapped. "Because she called me a freak?" Roxas wasn't sure why he said it but it was out before he could stop himself. Usually Roxas could shrug whatever anyone said off but for some reason Fuu's comment was still bothering him. Now it was laid out between him and Hayner like something dead and rotting.

Hayner didn't appear to be put off at all, just rolled his eyes. "Right, you're a freak coming from I-can-only-say-one-word-at-a-time-I-must-be-brain-dead-Fuu. Seriously don't listen to her. She's just full of herself."

It was nice to hear the comment and Hayner disregarded the whole thing like it was unimportant. It wasn't enough to completely diminish the building doubt Roxas had ever since the whole Twilight Town ordeal had started but it was enough to lessen it. "Thanks" Roxas said and found he meant it.

"No problem" Hayner waved a hand airily. "By they way you don't have to sleep on the couch either. I have a sleeping bag in my closet. It's not great but at least it's better then the couch."

"All I want to do" Roxas said wearily. "Is take a shower and sleep for the next week. Its been a really long couple of days."

Hayner leaned forward and moved the plate aside on the coffee table now that they'd finished with the pizza. "We can clean the blood up in the sink tomorrow." Hayner relented before giving a tired sigh. "Roxas" He said slowly. "I don't know what happened to you out there but you're not alone anymore. You've go Pence, Olette, and me. We're your friends now."

"I don't want friends." Roxas replied shortly

Roxas was expecting Hayner to become angry and snap back with something but instead the blonde teen smiled, punching Roxas lightly on the shoulder, skimming his knuckles against his sleeve. "To bad you've got us anyway. Besides when Olette decides she likes somebody it's pretty hard to get rid of her."

Roxas looked to consider it for a moment before he frowned. "I don't get it." He bit out. "What's so important about friends? They only slow you down. There was someone who used to tell me we were friends but he only got in my way. Their not useful at all. They've never done anything for me."

Hayner looked in front of him to the blank, dusty, and chipped TV screen. "I used to think that too." He said distantly. "Then I met Olette and Pence. Without their support I don't know where I'd be. I probably would have dropped out of school by now and ran away from home but I'm still here. Whenever I feel like I can't stay in this place another minute Pence and Olette are always there. My friends mean the world to me and I owe everything to them. I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to them."

"So it's an emotional thing then" Roxas concluded.

"I guess" Hayner scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. "I hope that didn't sound too sappy"

Roxas fell silent. Hayner didn't look like he was going to say anything else either and began to gather up the trash that was left over from their pizza. Roxas watched him, a question forming in his mind. He wasn't sure if he should ask Hayner or not, half wanting and half dreading the answer but so far talking to Hayner hadn't led to anything bad. "What's the feeling like?" Roxas asked abruptly.

Hayner looked up and blinked at him. "What?"

"Friendship, how is it supposed to feel. I don't remember so well. I think I want to know. Describe the feeling to me."

"That doesn't make any sense" Hayner said sounding confused. "How can you not remember a feeling?"

Roxas paused, trying to think of the best way to explain it to Hayner without giving too much away. "It's not that I can't remember it exactly. Its just hard for me to feel things…like how did you feel when I wouldn't get off of Seifer?"

"I don't know" Hayner said grudgingly. "I guess a part of me felt sorry for the guy but I was also glad someone was finally sticking it to him. It was kind of distressing when it started getting too out of hand. I was about ready to step in, although I don't think it would have made much of a difference now. Anyway, Fuu and Rai got to you first."

"Right" Roxas said confidently. "That's the point then. I could hear the others screaming my name. I heard Seifer crying out but I didn't feel anything. I don't know when to stop because there is nothing in my mind that tells me too. Boundaries and limits don't exist for me. There are fragments of feeling sometimes but their hard to grab a hold of. It's nothing compared to how you can feel. That's why I want you to describe the feeling to me."

Hayner was staring at Roxas in a mixture of astonishment and shock. The blonde teen wanted to deny everything Roxas had said. It seemed so unreal but their was a look of yearning so great in Roxas's eyes that Hayner nearly had to look away. Before he know it he was already attempting an answer. "Well…it's like never having to be alone. You always have someone to talk to or just laugh with-"

"No" Roxas interrupted, voice coming out a bit impatient. "That's not what I meant. I know the concept. I mean how does it feel in your mind, in your heart. Does it make your stomach twist? Does it make the place behind your eyes burn? Is there a high or a low? Is your skin supposed to crawl? What are the high and low supposed to feel like? Is it like needles are something else completely different? Describe the exact feeling to me."

Hayner looked blank. "I…I'm…not-"

"You can't" Roxas cut in. "Can you?"

"No…not when you put it that way"

There was something about Hayner's face that struck Roxas as funny, his expression stunned like he wasn't sure what was reality anymore and eyes blank with confusion. Roxas made a futile attempt at trying to hold back the laughter. It soon fell short and Roxas clutched his stomach and doubled over, choking on it. Everything from the past two days was crashing down on him the betrayal, the killing, the blood, and this pointless attempt at a new life. All Roxas could do was laugh and he couldn't stop.

Hayner was staring back at him, looking like he wasn't sure what to do and then the vacant look slowly faded into a grin. "Yeah, life is so screwed up."

If anything Roxas laughed harder and then Hayner joined him, the two of them laughing together until they could no longer breathe.


	8. Alone

Notes: I wanted more Axel and Roxas so here's the result I guess. After this chapter I think I have about three or four more chapters left of build up before some action can start happening. Also sorry about Riku he's coming in but it's still not going to be for awhile. Probably not to about chapter 19 or so. Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed especially those who reviewed more then once. You guys are the best!

Chapter 7: Alone

Axel sat across from Xemnas, in the superior's ashen white office. The floor had an interwoven and complex blue-black design on it that reached up the walls and spread across the white covering of the room like cracked ice. There was a dark brown desk between them and besides the floor, it was the only trace of color in the room. Axel had his elbow against the armrest of his chair with his chin resting in the palm of his hand.

Xemnas was hunched over a piece of paper, brow furrowed in concentration, scribbling down something, not bothering to even glance up at Axel. Pages of notes and diagrams were scattered all over his desk.

The room was silent except for the rustling of paper and a faint ticking that sounded like it was coming from a clock but Axel didn't see one anywhere in the room. Board, he shifted his eyes as he tried to locate the source of the noise, coming up with nothing, but unconsciously began drumming his fingers to the steady sound. There was only one other time Axel had been in Xemnas's office. It hadn't been the most pleasant experience and he found the memories rushing back.

0o0o0o0

It was right after Castle Oblivion, when he confronted Marluxia, and fought Sora for the final time. As soon as Axel returned to The Castle That Never Was, his first thought was of Roxas, wanting to see the blonde after he spent such a long period away from him. The time in Castle Oblivion always felt endless and Roxas had been the only thing that kept him going. Axel never really cared about what happened to himself before, his life being empty and dead, nothing. That was where the organization was supposed to come in, to give him an objective, something to reach for even if he highly doubted their sincerity. It was still a distorted reason to live and more then anything Axel wanted to feel alive.

Then when Axel met and had gotten to know Roxas, everything changed. Axel felt like he'd gotten a piece of his life back. For Roxas, Axel knew he had an obligation to see Castle Oblivion through to the end. It was just like he couldn't let Marluxia or any of the others harm that Sora brat. If something happened to Sora, Axel wasn't sure what effect it would have on Roxas but he wasn't willing to find out.

When Axel returned to The World That Never Was, there hadn't been any time to see Roxas, or for anything else. No time to think about the death of the others or to recover from the place he hardly escaped from alive. Instead, Axel found himself in Xemnas's office being harshly grilled for several hours, all the while attending to the bloody gashes that laced his skin and wearing a red tainted and ripped cloak. Marluxia had been surprisingly strong for someone whose ultimate power relied on rose petals. Sora on the other hand was just a lot more trouble then he was worth.

Then the door slammed opened and hit the wall with a loud bang. Roxas was standing in the entryway as if he'd always been there, clenching his teeth and breathing hard.

Axel felt something like a mixture of happiness and concern. He looked toward Xemnas. Barging into the superior's office was something that simply wasn't done but it was Roxas after all. Their white haired leader was glancing at Roxas through the corner of his eyes with a grim expression of mild disinterest on his face. Axel couldn't help his smile as he turned back to look at his angry friend. "Hi Rox, need something?"

Roxas's eyes landed on him and the blonde stalked forward. The next thing Axel knew Roxas had fisted a hand in the front of his cloak and had punched him square in the jaw. Axel could instantly taste the metallic tang in his mouth, grabbing Roxas's arm, he disentangled the blonde's fingers from his robe. "What the hell was that for?!'

Roxas took a couple of steps back, eyes flashing with rage. "There was no word from the castle! After the reports stopped coming no one knew what was happening! I thought you might have been killed!"

For a moment, Axel felt touched. He and the others were supposed to send reports to The Castle That Never Was regularly, but then the betrayal and killing had started and there wasn't time. Everyone back at home would have known something was wrong, that there was some kind of massacre happening, but they wouldn't know who was still alive or dead, leaving Roxas in the dark. Axel wondered what his friend must have gone through while he was gone and he felt suddenly guilty. "It's alright" Axel tried to say reassuringly. "I'm here now and I'm fine. See? Have some faith. You should know it's going to take a lot more then a few traitors to out due me."

Axel wasn't expecting the blank expression in Roxas's eyes. The blonde looked as if he hadn't understood the words. Then Axel saw the sudden realization that flowed through Roxas's face as he narrowed his eyes. "You? This isn't about you!"

"Then what's the reason for all the shouting and storming into the superior's office about then?' Axel asked slightly amused.

"Because you ruined everything!"

Then it all made sense to Axel. Roxas's desire for information, his fascination over the keyblades, and the one person that could bring him answers. Sora. This wasn't about Axel at all. Roxas had wanted to meet Sora and now the chance was gone. "Thanks Rox" Axel snapped and couldn't help the bite to his words. "Your concern is heart wrenching."

Roxas didn't reply. Instead, turning to Xemnas, placing his hands on the superior's desk, and knocking papers onto the floor, his fingernails scrapping into the wood. "I should have been the one chosen to go! Not Axel. I wanted to see Sora. I wanted to talk to him!"

Xemnas glanced up at Roxas, expression neutral but he didn't say anything.

Axel realized his friend was quickly and dangerously crossing the line. No one ever dared to speak to Xemnas this way and he felt an increasing sense of foreboding "Roxas…maybe you should-"

Axel soon found his effort meaningless when Roxas hastily cut him off. "Sora is the only I know of who can use the keyblade besides me. He's the keyblade's chosen one" Roxas looked over his shoulder and pointed menacingly towards the redhead. "Axel shouldn't be the one sitting there right now it should be me!"

"Roxas enough" Xemnas said dryly.

"You're hiding something. Tell me. Why don't you want me to see Sora!?"

"Roxas I said enough" Xemnas's tone was low and there was a warning to it.

Roxas hardly even acknowledge Xemnas as he continued in a sharp desperate voice. "You know why I can summon the keyblades! Don't you? Is it something to do with Sora? Is that why you don't want me to meet him? You knew I wanted to see him. You knew! It was my right and you sent Axel!"

"Number XIII do not make me repeat myself again" Xemnas did not raise his voice but it was cutting and piercing all the same. "Wait outside. I'll deal with you when I'm ready."

Roxas slid his hands off Xemnas's desk, breathing deeply as if he realized what he'd just done, anger fading from his face, replaced with anxiety. Roxas was still visibly tense and Axel knew his friend must be feeling a great deal of frustration, was almost sure that at that moment Roxas wanted more then anything to force the answers from Xemnas. Roxas was so close to them but he was also still so far away. Roxas nodded and headed to the door, closing it after him with a hard thud but at least it didn't slam.

Axel looked towards the door, longing to go after his friend and knowing he couldn't at the moment.

"I believe our key of destiny needs an attitude adjustment" Xemnas said in a low and off-handed voice.

Axel glanced back to the organization's white haired leader. "Or it could just be all those teenage hormones I keep hearing about."

Xemnas grunted, not lowering himself enough to give a reply. Then Axel hadn't expected one either. Xemnas reached down to pick up the fallen papers.

"He didn't know what he was doing" Axel persisted. "He got carried away."

"Roxas knew what he was doing." Xemnas replied. "But what he just did doesn't bother me. He's in the clear if you're that concerned about it."

"Good" Axel said and couldn't keep the relief out of his voice. "You know he's going to find out one way or another that Sora is his-"

"I'm well aware of that" Xemnas interjected. "I'll tell him when I deem it necessary"

"He's not going to stop asking questions" Axel slowly pressed. "It might be better if you told him now."

"Do not attempt to contradict me Number VIII" Xemnas said in a hard voice as he straightened the papers on his desk. "Honestly I sincerely doubt his ability to handle the truth, which…could turn out to be a good or a bad thing"

"What are you talking about?"

"Castle Oblivion failed and with it the attempt to get to Sora without Roxas. I will not reveal anymore."

Axel frowned and shook his head. "Listen, all I want to know is, if you are planning on telling him or not?"

For a second Axel was afraid he overstepped his bounds when Xemnas stared back at with heated eyes, but slowly the superior nodded. "Yes I am, Roxas is nothing but relentless. Shortly I will have no choice but to tell him whatever the consequences may lead to."

"Consequences?" Axel asked doubtfully. "What do you think he's going to do? Sora is out of the way and has been taken care of. It's not like Roxas can just get up, leave, and follow him."

Xemnas laced his hands together and rested his chin on his fingers, looking thoughtful. "Call it a premonition if you will. Hopefully for Roxas's sake, he will carry out his purpose and the ensuring aftermath will not be too severe."

"Right" Axel replied, quickly growing uncomfortable with this conversation. "I'm sorry to want to cut this short and everything but is there anything else you want me to go over?" Axel lifted an arm, picking at the torn and red crusted sleeve of his robe. "Because I would like to get cleaned up sometime this week."

Xemnas lowered his eyes back to his papers. "You're dismissed. Tell Roxas I'll be with him shortly."

Axel stood up from his chair, stretching his arms over his head until he could feel a satisfying pop at his back, walked over to the door, and twisted the handle. "Right. Thanks"

Xemnas glanced back up at Axel. "Number VIII"

Axel looked over his shoulder. "Yes?"

Xemnas was staring at him with heated and knowing eyes. "I do commend the loyalty you showed me in Castle Oblivion. Make sure it stays that way."

Axel felt a sudden chill in the air and for a split second, considered if maybe Xemnas knew everything that had taken place at Castle Oblivion. As soon as Axel thought of the concept, he dismissed it. There was no way Xemnas could possibly know. Axel's own loyalty was not something the redhead wanted to discuss, being blurred, wavering, and twisted. Axel looked out for himself and he wondered if Xemnas had guessed a certain aspect of that, nearly felt that with Xemnas's intent stare, the superior could look right through him. Axel nodded an affirmative, quickly leaving the room.

Axel found Roxas right outside Xemnas's office, leaning against a wall, looking down toward the ground, hands slightly curled, and shoulders slumped. If Axel didn't know Roxas better, he would almost say his friend was sulking. "Xemnas says he'll be right with you."

Roxas shrugged but otherwise remained unmoving.

Axel walked over to the blonde so he was standing right in front of him. "You know you really can't talk to the superior like that. You're so lucky he likes you, if that would have been anyone else they probably would've been struck dead."

Roxas jerked his head up. "I know you're right okay?" Roxas snapped. "It was stupid. I wasn't thinking."

Axel shook his head and waved a hand in front of him. "Hey hey hey…wait a minute. Say that again."

Roxas glared. "What?"

"C'mon just say it one more time."

"I wasn't thinking"

Axel broke into a wide grin. "No the first part about me being right. I want to savor the moment."

Roxas blinked and looked blank before he slowly lifted a hand to his mouth, surpassing a small laugh.

"There you go" Axel said, sounding proud of himself. "Exactly what I was looking for."

"Whatever."

Axel crossed his arms, smile fading, the emerald green of his eyes turning somber. "Seriously Rox, trust me you weren't missing anything at Castle Oblivion that place was…" Axel trailed off becoming lost in his own thoughts before he quickly finished. "Be grateful you weren't there."

"Sora was there"

Axel sighed, moving so he was standing beside Roxas. "Right…Sora was there," he repeated.

Roxas fisted his hands, voice coming out biting, almost frantic but confident. "It's not fair. I only wanted to see him, to talk with him. Everything…about me I could have learned so much. Now it's all over and I wasn't able to learn anything. Xemnas is hiding something about Sora. He has to be."

"Since when has Xemnas not been hiding something? " Axel returned dully, but then paused, choosing his next words carefully. "Besides he has his reasons"

"I don't care about that!" Roxas replied sharply. "I want to know the truth. He knows something and so do you and some of the others. I'm sick of it."

Axel turned his head to glance at his friend. The redhead had known about the connection between Roxas and Sora for some time and so did a few select others. Roxas was continually left out of the loop and Axel wasn't the least bit surprised the blonde had picked up on it. Axel did nothing to try and deny the fact. "I want to tell you Roxas"

"So tell me. What are you waiting for?"

Axel breathed in deeply. "I want to…" The redhead let his eyes flicker to the white ceiling, seeming at odds with himself before he glanced back at Roxas. "But I can't under orders and everything."

Roxas gave him a stony look. "I'm going to find out" The blonde's voice was hard and emotionless

Axel studied his friend, not doubting Roxas's words for a moment. Roxas seemed so distant, nearly lost, only having a half-truth to go on. Axel wanted to wrap an arm around Roxas's shoulders, put his mind at ease. After Castle Oblivion and being gone for so long, Axel wanted to assure himself that Roxas was real, alive, and breathing. The redhead knew he would do anything for the boy that was standing right beside him but he didn't act on the strange and sudden impulse, didn't even move, instead only giving a vague supportive smile. "I know, look Xemnas told me he was going to tell you. You just have to hang on until then."

Roxas glanced up at him and met his gaze, Axel didn't miss the hopeful look. "When?"

"Soon I promise"

Roxas was quiet for a minute and Axel could almost see him thinking it over. "Alright" Roxas said bitterly. "But you shouldn't promise things."

Axel shrugged. "Probably right."

Roxas didn't reply and off of his friend's silence, Axel lifted an arm and put his thumb and forefinger together. "So did you miss me even just a little?"

The hard look in Roxas's eyes faded somewhat, replaced by faint amassment, corners of his mouth rising into an almost smile. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

Axel didn't have time for a comeback before Xemnas's door opened and the head of the organization walked out into the hallway. Axel found himself pushed to the side as Roxas's attention became instantly and completely focused on Xemnas. The blonde raced over to him with out even a glace back, reaching him, and saying something that Axel couldn't hear.

Xemnas nodded and the two of them walked further away, talking in low and mumbled tones. It was easy to see, Xemnas favored the blonde. Ever since the organization's white haired leader had found Roxas in Twilight Town the two of them had formed a strange and almost secretive relationship. Axel wasn't sure what Xemnas wanted with the kid or if he was trying to manipulate him somehow.

Xemnas would stop at nothing to reach his goals and Roxas could prove to be an important part in them. With Xemnas there was always an alterative motive, the conversation they had a few minutes ago, making that painfully obvious. Axel wondered if Roxas sensed that. His friend was good at figuring things out for himself and seeing through deception. Axel knew all he could do was have trust in Roxas but the whole situation still irritated him to no end.

Axel watched them a minute, trying to make out some of the conversation but failing. He wanted to stay and talk to Roxas afterwards but dismissed the desire, turned his back and walked away, settling for going to get himself cleaned up.

Xemnas told Roxas about Sora two weeks later.

0o0o0o0

"You went after Number XIII then?" Xemnas asked as he finally looked up from his desk.

Startled, Axel jerked his head forward. "Huh?"

"Number XIII, you went after him but were unsuccessful in locating him," Xemnas said in a deep voice.

"Ahhh right" Axel replied absently. "I couldn't find him."

Xemnas folded his arms on top of his desk, staring fixedly at Axel. "This is a very delicate situation I've been put in."

"I know."

Xemnas arched an eyebrow. "Do you?"

"Yes" Axel answered in a monotone voice. "In order for us to complete Kingdom Hearts and reach our goals, more hearts must be released meaning more heartless have to be killed. Roxas could have helped with that but since he's gone, he obviously can't. Still that isn't the whole reason is it?" Axel paused and grinned daringly. "No, that's only what you want the rest of the organization to think, it goes much deeper and I believe I've figured out why."

"Do enlighten me then."

"It was the whole reason for Castle Oblivion, why you have always been so preoccupied with Roxas, why you told Roxas about Sora right after he was said to have disappeared. You wanted Roxas to seek out Sora because it's not Roxas you want. It's Sora."

Xemnas nodded, not seeming at all surprised. "Hmm…if I were to say one thing, you are perceptive."

"Sora could accomplished everything Roxas is capable of" Axel continued "Sora would keep fighting until the worlds are saved and the heartless are defeated, this would have sped up our goal but there's an advantage Sora has that Roxas doesn't"

"And that is?"

"Roxas is not the keyblade's chosen one and he never will be. He can only control it because he's what's left over from Sora. Sora has a heart to make him stronger, to get him through. Roxas doesn't. Roxas can't seal worlds and Roxas can't open Kingdom Hearts."

"You never cease to amaze me Axel." Xemnas said with a contemplative smile. "In regards to Sora, Roxas is nothing and after the failure of Castle Oblivion my original intention was for Roxas to find Sora for me, they have a connection and Roxas has the best chance of accomplishing it. However, there is more to it then that. If Sora was brought back into the picture or if Roxas is able to find him somehow or to join with him the results could be just as equally disastrous. I've been having growing doubts about all of this. The keyblade master has the ability to single handily take out all of us. He is the chosen one for a reason and I have come too far to underestimate what Sora may be capable of."

"So we need Sora to open Kingdom Hearts but Sora can also obliterate us in the process. Sounds like a lose lose situation to me."

"Not necessarily, Kingdom Hearts may take longer to reach without the keyblade master but it is still possible. I can be patient. I have waited this long and we are so close I can almost taste it. I will not risk having my plans spoiled by anyone."

"What are you intending then?" Axel asked, already knowing the answer but still dreading it.

"I have given that a great deal of thought," Xemnas answered easily. "I have decided there is too much riding on Number XIII. He has turned traitor but only for the sake of his own intentions, which are chaotic. Roxas has proven over and over again he is no more then an insolent child, unreliable, and untrustworthy. I can no longer take the chance of his finding Sora. The situation is beyond dangerous and the only way to resolve it is for Number XIII to be found and readily destroyed. In comparison with completing Kingdom Hearts that is our top priority."

"So the moment he stops being useful to you," Axel snapped "You decide to take him out of the picture?!"

"Precisely."

Axel gritted his teeth but thought back to what he and Roxas had gone through the pervious night. Everything Xemnas said had already happened. Roxas being out there alone would always be a threat in itself but after meeting Sora, Roxas wanted nothing more to do with his other. "You don't have to worry about Roxas finding Sora."

"Really now, why would you say that?" Xemnas asked with a skeptical tone to his voice. "Unless you know something I do not."

"I don't" Axel replied unwaveringly. "Call it intuition."

"No matter" Xemnas said airily. "My decision is final. Roxas will be destroyed especially since he has proven to be unstable."

"He's not unstable!" Axel said cuttingly before he could stop himself.

Xemnas sat back in his chair, not the least bit concerned with Axel's reaction. "That is not the issue at hand. What we need to do is focus on annihilating Roxas as quickly as possible."

Axel's expression turned grim. "I'm not helping with that."

"I don't expect you too" Xemnas replied straightforwardly. "It is not difficult to see you have become attached to Number XIII, something I may add that was never supposed to happen and because of this I honestly doubt your ability to carry out the mission. That is why I am appointing someone else and I will appoint others if need be."

Axel felt something knot in his stomach and a moment of all consuming panic, having a feeling he knew exactly who Xemnas was talking about. Axel opened his mouth to ask, only to find his throat dry. He quickly swallowed but did not have a chance to voice anything before a heavy knock at the door came.

"I believe that is him now," Xemnas said sounding satisfied. "This is exactly the time I told him to meet me up here, perfect timing as always."

"You set this up?'

Xemnas gave a strange knowing smile before he turned his head toward the door, raising his voice. "Yes, come in."

Axel watched the door swing open, all he could do was hope it wasn't who he thought it would be but knowing at the same time that it was. For a second Axel let himself, pretend this wasn't happening. He could almost envision Roxas walking into Xemnas's office, angry and demanding answers as usual. However, it wasn't his blonde friend that entered, it was a man with long sky blue hair with a jagged scar in the shape of an 'x' that was spread out across his face. Saïx.

Axel's breath hitched, his fear confirmed. Saïx was the one who was Xemnas's chosen second in command, always appearing emotionless and calm but inside was twisted, dangerous, and deadly. He was the man who could use the power of moonlight and would stop at nothing until Roxas was hunted down.

"Saïx" Xemnas said in greeting.

Saïx looked to the leader of the organization, completely disregarding Axel, lowering his eyes, and bowing his head slightly. "Superior" he returned.

"Are the preparations in order?" Xemnas asked.

Saïx raised his head and met Xemnas's gaze with an impassive expression. "Yes, I request permission to leave."

"Granted."

Saïx didn't reply but turned towards the door. When he reached it, he glanced back over his shoulder. "I will not let you down Superior. I will find our traitor and he will pay."

"Yes" Xemnas said. "But understand I cannot take any chances with this. I know you will do everything in your power. I have trust in your abilities so lets hope you shall succeed." Axel didn't miss the faint threatening tone at the end of Xemnas's words.

Saïx nodded and closed the door behind him. Just like that, the blue haired nobody was gone. Axel hastily stood up from his chair, intent on going after Saïx. Xemnas turned his head towards Axel and nodded his dismissal, just before the redhead fled the office, not that Axel would have waited for one anyway.

Axel instantly spotted Saïx, walking briskly down the hallway and raced to catch up with him, preparing himself for what he was about to do. Confronting Saïx was not the sanest thing in the world. Axel could more then enjoy the heat of battle but he also knew the importance of thinking things through. Although when it came to Roxas, Axel found he virtually always did act irrationally.

Axel reached Saïx in seconds, placing a hand on his shoulder, making the scared nobody come to a halt, fingernails digging into the heavy material of the other's robe. Axel leaned forward, his mouth right by Saïx's ear, speaking as low as possible. "If you so much as touch him, I'll take my chakrams and rip you apart limb from limb then as you lay bleeding to death in agony, I'll watch you fade away into nothing and with your last breath I'll light you on fire for kicks."

Saïx jerked his shoulder harshly out of Axel's grip, turning to face him, and not looking the least bit moved. Then slowly, Axel could see the corners of Saïx's eyes crease and a callous grin begin to form on his lips. When he spoke, his voice was cold and relaxed. "I always knew you were a traitor, ever since you were the only one to come out of Castle Oblivion alive. I don't know why the superior continues to trust you. If it were up to me you would have been put out of your misery long ago."

"This isn't about Castle Oblivion," Axel snapped.

"No it's not," Saïx agreed. "This is about Number XIII who you so conveniently followed last night and couldn't find."

"I already explained the story" Axel shot back defensively. "I did go after Roxas but there was no trace of him. He was nowhere."

"I highly doubt that. I think you know exactly where he is. It's too bad I don't have a way of proving it."

"You can't prove anything because I don't know" Axel returned simply. "And even if I did, I would make sure you never found him."

Saïx paused, looking thoughtful before his grin increased, eyes shining with cynicism "Alright, then say I believe you. If you couldn't find him, tell me this. What exactly went on last night?"

"I searched for him that was all," Axel replied grimly but quickly.

Saïx tilted his head, looking as if he was enjoying this. "Nothing more, are you sure about that? Anything unforeseen didn't happen? Nothing went wrong?"

Saïx was deranged but extremely insightful and the scared nobody was acting as if he was hiding all of Axel's dark secrets. The redhead didn't know if Saïx knew anything or if this was all speculation. Then Saïx could just be trying to bait Axel in to admitting what he already suspected. Axel didn't allow himself to be intimidated, narrowing his eyes. "If you're tying to get to a point make it already."

"You are lying." Saïx said lifelessly. "You know exactly where Number XIII is and it wouldn't surprise me if you know where that keyblade kid is too."

Axel met Saïx's gaze unfaltering but without replying. He had no need to explain anything further to the scared nobody and Saïx would only continue to manipulate and twist anything he said. All Axel could do was show Saïx he wasn't backing down.

Saïx seemed to get the hint and nodded. "Right well as I thought, anyway I'm through wasting words with you. I have much more pressing matters to attend to" Saïx turned away from Axel, proceeding to walk down the hallway.

"I won't allow you to hurt him Saïx." Axel stated before Saïx could get too far. "You won't even so much as set sight on him."

Saïx glanced back, with a self-assured expression, his voice coming out vaguely amused. "And you are going to make sure of that how?"

"I will track you down." Axel answered firmly. "Everywhere you go I will be behind you, every step of the way. You won't even be able to breathe without looking over your shoulder."

Saïx frowned. "You are quickly forgetting your place Number VIII and besides that point Xemnas told me you weren't even on the mission anymore."

Axel let his voice lower into a dangerous whisper. "Do you really think that's going to stop me?"

Saïx rose a had to his chin, looking contemplative but there was the beginning of a sneer on his face. "Hmm…I suppose not. Fine then, there is a whole universe Roxas could be hiding in. Locating him will take time but in the mean time hold true to your word. Trail me, trail the others, stop us from finding him. Then be exposed for what you truly are so that I may end your pathetic existence."

Axel didn't have a chance to respond before there was a shout from the hallway. "Axel! Hey Axel!"

Axel turned his head to see Demyx running toward him with his hand raised.

"As nice as our little chat was if you'll excuse me I must be going" Saïx said. Without another word, the blue haired nobody walked away, his steps echoing on the hard floor. Axel continued to watch him until he was out of sight, Demyx reaching him as soon as Saïx disappeared around a corner.

Demyx placed his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. "Hi Axel."

"What?" The redhead snapped.

Demyx didn't answer, instead lifting his head and staring at the spot Saïx had occupied only moments before. "Wow Saïx, that couldn't have been good."

Axel turned away, walking toward the direction of his room. "Thank you for the observation."

"Ahh… Right" Demyx replied as he followed Axel.

"Did you want something?"

Demyx smiled uncomfortably and ran a hand through his dark blonde hair. "I wanted to know what happened. Did you find Roxas? Is he okay?"

"I didn't find him."

"Oh really?" Demyx asked, sounding a bit surprised. "What do you think happened to him?"

Axel increased his pace and shrugged.

Demyx unconsciously took quicker strides to keep up with Axel. "I hope he's okay."

"Roxas can take care of himself."

"I know but why do you think he left us?"

"Because he was fed up with all of us," Axel replied harshly. "Especially those of us who didn't know when to stop asking questions."

Demyx didn't seem to get the point and continued to follow Axel, when he spoke there was a wistful note to his voice. "Hmm… Do you think he's coming back?"

"No, he's never coming back" Axel answered sharply

Demyx scrunched his face up, clearly displeased with the idea. "That's a depressing thought. I hope he does. I really liked Roxas and we were friends. Okay…so maybe we weren't actually friends but this one time I was playing my sitar and Roxas came by and told me how great he thought it was." Demyx paused, his voice rising in excitement. "Now that automatically makes him cool in my book!"

Axel shot Demyx a doubtful look.

Demyx laughed nervously. "Okay so maybe he didn't say that exactly. Mainly he just told me to stop playing because the noise was keeping him up. Although, I don't know how it would since my room is in a different hallway. I know with these walls the noise can carry but do you think it can carry that far?"

Axel at last reached his room and walked inside.

"Come to think of it that was the only time Roxas actually took the time out to speak to me. No…wait there was this one other time when-"

Axel promptly closed his door in Demyx's face, breathing in deeply and letting himself sag against it. Demyx's voice came out muffled from the other side. "Right well…umm…I guess I'll go then." Axel could picture Demyx scratching his head and then Axel head Demyx's footsteps as the water powerful nobody walked away.

Axel didn't move from his place by the door, letting his eyes glance around his room. It wasn't anything spectacular. The floor and walls were white like all the rest of the castle but at least it was large with a nice bed and contained all the necessities. Everything was now cast in shadow nearly to the point of being pitch black but Axel didn't feel a need to turn a light on. The redhead's eyes landed on his window. It was large, low to the ground, and overlooked a large part of the city. The edge was glowing faintly as it always did, just barely illuminated by the rose colored heart shaped moon. A memory came back to him.

0o0o0o0

Axel just came back from a mission that had taken the entire day. It was late or so the redhead assumed with this world. His muscles were aching and his body was weary, all Axel wanted was sleep. He'd give the report to Xemnas tomorrow. Axel walked into his room to see his window wide open and Roxas curled up on the windowsill, his back against the frame and hunched forward hugging his legs with his head resting on top of his knees, obviously sleeping. Roxas was cast in the dim moonlight while everything else was obscured in shadow.

Axel found himself momentarily stunned. Roxas had never sought him out before much less came into his room. The redhead knew something must be off, but didn't voice anything, closing his door behind him with a barely audible click. Usually it would have only taken that faint sound to wake Roxas up but the blonde didn't stir. Slightly concerned, Axel walked over to him and knelt by the window, placing a hand on the blonde's shoulder, shaking him awake. "Hey Roxas."

Waking Roxas wasn't the safest thing to do and Axel was prepared to block in case a keyblade came at his throat but Roxas just jerked his head up and blinked at him through unfocused eyes.

"You've got to stop falling asleep on places like windowsills," Axel said in a low quite voice but there was a slight trace of humor in it. "Sometime you're going to fall off."

Roxas seemed to come back to himself, eyes losing the glazed over look and his blank expression turned to one of recollection before he nodded tiredly and placed his head back on his knees.

The redhead stood up and walked over to his bed, sitting down heavily, taking off his boots. "Not that I'm complaining Rox but what are you doing in here anyway?"

Roxas mumbled something that Axel couldn't catch.

"What?"

The blonde picked his head up. "I said I tore up my room."

Axel kicked his boots away, laying back on his crimson red bedspread, not even bothering to take his cloak off, and placed his hands behind his head. "Okay and why exactly did you do that?"

Roxas uncurled from himself and stretched out on the windowsill, until his back was leaning fully against the frame and his feet were pressed up on the opposite side. Roxas turned his head, staring into the endless abyss of the black sky. There was such a long pause that Axel didn't think Roxas was going to answer the question then at last the blonde spoke. "Xemnas told me about Sora."

Axel let his eyes flicker to the ceiling, breathing in deeply. "So you know then?"

"That Sora is my other?" Roxas replied distantly. "Yeah."

Despite the situation, Axel couldn't help the small grin that tugged at the corner of his mouth. "And because of that you tore up your room?"

Roxas nodded but didn't look away from the sky. "I was upset."

"I guess that's one way of dealing with it." Axel said absently.

"Only I'm going to have to clean it all up later."

"It could have been worse" Axel fell silent for a moment as his mind jumped to a new thought. When he spoke, again there was a faint trace of apprehension to his voice. "Hey, you're not mad at me, are you? For not telling you."

Roxas turned his head to glance at Axel with a neutral expression. "No, why should I be? Under orders and everything right? That's not something I think I should care too much about."

Axel gave a partial relieved smile. "Nice of you to let me off the hook."

"It all makes sense now that I think about it," Roxas said with a strangely reflective tone. "Why I'm connected with the keyblades when I don't even have a heart, why Xemnas didn't want me to meet Sora, it's even in my name."

"Why you can't remember your past life," Axel added.

"Because there's nothing to remember," Roxas continued. "Sora never died and he's still out there out somewhere… all the signs were there. I should have realized it a lot sooner."

"Don't worry about it" Axel said dismissively "Besides Sora is gone for now anyway…. and there's nothing you can really do about it. You just have to move on."

Roxas shrugged. "I keep thinking if Xemnas knew that much about me and never said anything, then what else isn't he telling me?"

"It doesn't matter" Axel replied firmly. "Xemnas is just some whacked out nut job. We're not in the organization because of him. We're in it to get hearts, to become whole."

"Still there has to be more out there then just a non-existent world and Xemnas's undying love for Kingdome Hearts whether it leads us anywhere or not," Roxas said mockingly, letting his eyes glance around the room and gesturing to it with one arm. "There has to be more then just…this."

"I know and that's what we're aiming for."

"I think" The blonde said slowly. "I want to find out the truth for myself. I want to find Sora. There's so many things I what to know. What if Kingdom Hearts doesn't even work or Xemnas can't open it? Kingdom Hearts isn't something that can be easily pulled off. It's like some blurred dream and it's hard to believe in. You can't tell me you don't have second thoughts."

Axel knew everything Roxas said was true but the redhead didn't want to voice his beliefs about Kingdom Hearts and he didn't want Roxas to either. Axel could see Roxas's ice blue eyes shinning even through the darkness and Axel knew there was something more to his friend, a sense of living and reckless desire that ran behind the blue gaze, that none of the other nobodies possessed. It was something that drew Axel to Roxas but now the redhead found he was also beginning to hate it. The same desire was causing his friend to stray and Axel wanted to kill it before it could progress any further. "You're heading in the wrong direction Roxas. Don't dream it's dangerous."

There was a slight hurt look on Roxas's features but it was so fleeting Axel wondered if he imagined it. Roxas didn't say anything else, just turned his head away to look back out the window. The redhead felt slightly remorseful but he only hoped this conversation had ended and would be forgotten about.

It wasn't long afterwards until Axel felt the lure of sleep. With every passing second, his bed was starting to feel more and more comfortable against his worn out body. He let his eyes fall shut, quickly drifting off.

"I want a star," Roxas said abruptly.

Axel blinked his eyes opened, trying to clear his hazy mind and wake himself up. "You can't have a star Rox, they're too big."

"In the sky you moron."

"The sky?" Axel repeated sleepily

"It looks so empty," Roxas said with a longing tone to his voice. "Without any stars."

More awake now, Axel lifted a hand to his mouth and covered up a chuckle. "What do you expect? This is the world of nothing."

"I still want a star."

Axel turned in his bed and buried his nose into his pillow, dismissing the issue as one of those weird and random Roxas things. "Hmm good luck with that. I'm going back to sleep."

Axel secretly watched his friend for a few more minutes but Roxas remained silent, still gazing out the window with such intensity that Axel didn't even know was possible. For some reason Axel noticed then that there wasn't any breeze coming from the window. The air was always still and dead in this world except for the chilling and biting wind when it rained. Axel felt something like dread tear into his non-existent heart and the urge to shudder, suddenly reminded of the calm before the storm.

Axel didn't allow himself to think about it any longer and closed his eyes away from Roxas's faraway expression. Sleep claimed the redhead soon afterwards but before Axel was lost to the world, he heard a whisper as dead and motionless as the breeze but somehow still strong and brimming with emotion. _'I'm going to find out.'_

That night had seemed to be a turning point for Roxas. The conversation about wanting to find the answers hadn't dropped like Axel had hoped. Instead the blonde's building interest in Sora and the keyblades escalated into a full out obsession that even made Xemnas leery. Roxas staying in Axel's room at all hours began to become commonplace. Roxas needed someone to voice things to or to just be there while he tried to make sense out of what he was seeking and his own frustration. Axel was sure he was the only one who listened.

0o0o0o0

The memory faded from Axel and the redhead looked toward his window almost expecting to see Roxas on his windowsill but there was only the faint glow of the moon and a vacant sky without stars.

Somewhere Axel knew Roxas was eventually going to go off on his own and turn against the organization. All the hints had been there but Axel didn't let himself acknowledge them. Then it suddenly struck Axel why even though he listened to Roxas he always tried to downplay what Roxas wanted and why he told his friend not to dream, knew why he chased after Roxas a night ago without any regard for his own life.

The reason was selfish, Roxas made him feel. It wasn't the blonde Axel cared about it was the feeling Roxas gave him but Roxas had left and he'd taken the feeling and everything else with him. Axel was only left with an empty room, shadows, and a half promise to keep the organization away from his friend for as long as possible. The redhead felt alone like he hadn't in over a year. He let his head fall backwards, against his door and shut his eyes. He could almost hear Roxas's voice, distant and yearning _I want a star_.

Axel kicked his wall.


	9. Remembrance part 1

Notes: I'm so sorry! I know it's been about three months since I posted anything. I'm doing chapter 8 in parts again since it's turning out to be really long. I'm about a third of the way done with the second part so I should have it up soon. I just wanted everyone who is following this story to have something after so long.

I rewrote all the previous chapters and reposted them, (basically why it took me so long to update) I think the story flows a lot better now and I changed a lot of the dialog between Axel and Xemnas in chapter 7 so there's a lot more bite to it.

Thanks for putting up with me and for reviewing and this is just one of those weird transition chapters that takes place 5 months later.

Chapter 8: Remembrance

_He was on the ground sitting in an alleyway with his body slumped against a brick wall. It was dark but there were lights up ahead. His head hurt as if he'd just been thrown against something and he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open. Something warm, wet, and slick ran up his cheek. He blinked to clear his vision, seeing a yellow dog standing right in front of him. Its long pink tongue was hanging limply from its mouth and it had long black ears and a thin black tail that was wagging franticly. _

"_Oh...Where am I?" he asked. The dog didn't answer._

_Placing, his hand on the wall he stood up, overcome for a moment by dizziness but quickly pushed it aside and ran out of the alleyway. He was in some kind of town with a shady and dusky atmosphere but there were several shops and flashing lights that formed patterns of zigzags and stars. The place looked deserted. _

"_What happened to my home? My island?" he called to the empty air._

_A moment later, Neoshadows rose out of the ground, quickly surrounding him in a small ring. The keyblade materialized in his hands and he held it defensively in front of himself. "Riku! Kai-!" _

_He didn't have a chance to finish the second name before a flickering and unclear image of a redheaded girl appeared in his mind, only lasting a fraction of a second, before the heartless descended._

_He was in a different part of the town but he was still holding the keyblade out to his side. There was a young man standing in front of him with a leather jacket, a scar across his face, and hair the color of bronze that fell to his shoulders. _

_He unconsciously tightened his grip on the keyblade. "Who are you?"_

_The stranger didn't answer but pointed at the keyblade. "They will come at you out of nowhere, as long as you continue to wield the keyblade."_

_A dog and duck were falling from the sky. He stood underneath of them, watching in fascination but did not have a chance to move before they collided into him. The impact knocked him to the ground and he hit the side of his head, making him see a flash of yellow light. The duck and the dog were lying heavily on top of him with their limbs sticking out in all directions and entangled with his. All three of them, too stunned to move._

_The duck and the dog were standing before him. The bronze haired guy from earlier was standing slightly to his right along with a girl with short dark hair. _

_The dog gave a cheerful grin. "Hey, why don't you come with us? We can go to other worlds on our vessel."_

_He turned his head to his right. The girl nodded enthusiastically and the guy folded his arms with a determined expression. "Sora go with them especially if you want to find your friends" _

_He looked back to the duck and the dog. _

_The duck placed a hand in front of him "Donald"_

_The dog smiled broadly before doing the same. "Name's Goofy"_

_He placed his hand on top of theirs. "I'm Sora. I'll go with you guys"_

_He was in a small room, sitting on a bed, holding the keyblade. The guy was there and so was a different girl with long chestnut hair tied back in a ribbon and a pink dress. _

"_The Heartless have great fear of the keyblade," The guy said impassively._

"_That's right. The keyblade." The girl added from where she was seated on another bed opposite to his._

_He turned the silver and gold form of Kingdom Key in his hands. "So...this is the key?"_

_He was in another world and inside of a dark and rocky cavern that was cast in an orange glow, lit by several flaming torches. A keyhole was in front of him, looking to be carved into the cavern's wall, the open space of it was blue-black in color and swirled like midnight. He lifted the keyblade, the tip flaring with an intense light and he could feel the power vibrating through it and in turn spinning around him. A strong and dazzling beam shot outward, striking the keyhole, sealing it._

_He could hear a deep voice from someplace far off that was filled with a mixture of scorn and agitation. "But the boy is a problem. He found one of the keyholes"_

Roxas shot up from his bed clutching his shoulders, gasping for breath. It didn't take long for his breathing to even out, his body to stop shaking, and his racing mind to begin to slow. He just had a dream about Sora. It felt so real and vivid as if he'd really been there. Roxas could almost feel the brick digging into his back in the alleyway, almost smell the musty air from the cavern.

The last time he experienced Sora's memories he'd been in DIZ's underground lab. That was nearly five months ago and there had been no dreams of Sora since, no memories, nothing. Roxas ran a hand through his sweaty hair, _so_ _why now?_ He didn't understand. Sora wasn't apart of his life anymore and Roxas wanted to keep it that way. After meeting Hayner, Pence, and Olette he tried to completely forget about the sleeping form in the pod and yet somehow Roxas often found his thoughts straying back to him.

He and Sora were two separate identities. Sora's memories belonged with Sora, but Roxas had just watched them play out in front of his eyes like he was nothing more then some trivial outsider, being forced to suffer through everything Sora had experienced. Roxas couldn't even have this new life he was able to scrape together without Sora's presence and it only made his contempt for his other grow.

"Sora" Roxas's throat was dry and the name came out in a breathless hiss. "I still hate you."

Roxas sat back in his bed, his light blue sheets falling from around his waist and pooling over his legs. Still panting, he glanced around the comforting surroundings of his room, seeing nothing out of place. The colors were mostly in earth tones, walls a rich shade of brown and carpet a light tan. There was a stained glass picture of a moon carved into his door and his clothes were scattered everywhere on the floor. His blue and gold light in the shape of a star was prompted up against his overly large shelf, flickering and casting speckled patterns against the wall.

His room was small and cluttered, just enough for him to live in. There was a small bathroom and Roxas had a small fridge that he kept in a corner. For everything else like laundry he had to go to other places mainly Hayner's, Pence's, and Olette's which was fine since Roxas didn't like to spend a lot of time here. One thing he did like about his room was the large window that was right beside his bed and nearly took up the entire wall, offering an ideal view of Twilight Town. Roxas kept it open a majority of the time, especially since the weather was usually hot and muggy regardless the time of year.

It was awkward and different staying in Twilight Town at first but with the help of his three friends, Roxas was quickly able to adjust. Finding a room hadn't been hard either. He switched off staying with Hayner, Pence, and Olette for a couple of weeks before he found a place. The Twilight Town inhabitants hadn't seemed to care that he was only supposed to be fifteen, just as long as he could pay for it. Axel had been generous in the munny department and Roxas had enough to rent a place, keep it for a few months, and support himself. Then Roxas wanting to be self-sufficient had taken up various odd jobs including the poster job and something where he moved trash around.

Roxas jerked his head to the side when he heard the fast and upbeat tempo of music, eyes landing on the soft blue glow of his fish lamp on a table right beside his bed. Roxas hastily flipped the switch off, the thing could blast out music at the most random times but Roxas had liked the way it looked and couldn't bring himself to get rid of it. Grabbing, his watch off the same table Roxas saw it was only 7:30, plus it was Saturday, meaning Hayner, Pence, and Olette would be off from school but wouldn't be up for another few hours yet. Roxas didn't have to work today and the times when the four of them were off together were becoming further and further apart.

Olette, wanting to make the most of it suggested they meet at The Usual Spot, which was nothing more then a deserted plot of concrete littered with boxes and closed off by a chain link fence. They had moved a couch that someone was throwing away, a dartboard, and various other things into it but no matter what the place looked liked, it was theirs and they were happy with it. Hayner had yet to beat him at darts either, Roxas found he was insanely good at them like he was at basically everything.

They were planning to catch a movie, Hayner wanting to see the new horror movie, something with the word 'skull' in the title, which he and Pence quickly agreed too. Olette had wanted to see a romantic comedy but reluctantly gave in, not wanting to be the odd one out. Afterwards, the four of them were going to go over to Pence's to order take out and play his new video game, Pence always seemed to have some new electronic thing not to mention the camera he was always carrying around.

Their initial plan was to go down to the beach since Roxas had never been and his friends were dying to show him around but despite the warm temperature, it was a bit too chilly to go swimming, so they decided to save the trip for next summer. Roxas did have to admit he was a little disappointed, still beach or no beach, he was sure it would be an interesting evening especially since Olette didn't do so well with horror movies.

Staying in his room after his dream about Sora was the last thing Roxas wanted, being it was still fresh in his mind and his small room was beginning to make him feel closed in and slightly jittery. Roxas needed somewhere to go or something to do to occupy himself, throwing his pajamas onto the floor, which were nothing more, then a blue and white T-shirt and a pair of dark gray sweatpants, he quickly got dressed, and left his room, feeling much better once he was outside. There was a soft cool breeze and the sun had not completely risen yet, Roxas could tell it was going to be a nice day and it only took him a few minutes to decide to head to the Clock Tower.

The view from his bedroom window was nothing compared to the one from the Clock Tower. The place was massive, easily the tallest structure in Twilight Town, even making Sunset Hill look insignificant. It was made up of russet colored bricks, winding staircases, several ledges, and stained glass windows. From so high up Twilight Town looked to shine, roads and buildings seeming like nothing more then mere gleaming lines and dots, the colors of the town blurring together making it resemble a prism of pink, orange, yellow, brown, and gray shadows. Roxas swore if he reached out a hand, he would be able to touch a cloud. This had quickly became his favorite place.

He, Hayner, Pence, and Olette would come up here often to sit on the ledge while watching the sunset, talking, and eating sea salt ice cream. There was no rail on the Clock Tower, for Roxas that held little danger, if he slipped, he was sure he could catch himself, for Hayner, Pence, or Olette it meant instant death but the risk of falling was slight and they were willing to take if for the view.

Roxas was on the ledge, leaning forward, legs dangling off the side, wind blowing his hair back, feeling nice against his heated skin. He let his eyes travel up to the sky. Roxas had begun to notice small changes in Twilight Town. They were nearly non-existent at first but he could see the sky was starting to developed hairline cracks around the edges, leaving only black open spaces. Shaded areas on the ground and everyday shadows were branching out further, the whole world becoming darker. Twilight Town was starting the process of dying and Roxas only saw because he knew what to look for. The others hadn't noticed anything yet and wouldn't until it was too late.

Roxas let his eyes fall shut, preferring not to think about it, he still had time before the town completely died. He only wanted to focus on now, on this moment, with the warm sun, the crisp air he was breathing into his lungs, and the twisting feeling he had in his stomach from being so high up. He wanted to forget the dream, the danger, forget everything, just concentrate on being alive.

There was a rush of air as a portal opened from behind him, snapping his eyes open and without turning around, Roxas automatically reached his hand out to summon the keyblade but stopped when he was only half way through the motion. The presence behind him was familiar and not a threat. Roxas let his hand fall back down to his side, hearing a soft thud as someone jumped from the portal and a droning hum as the black mass disappeared.

There was silence for a few minutes before someone spoke in an unsure and soft voice "Hello Roxas."

Roxas didn't even have to glace back to know who it was and let his fingers dig into the rough and rocky ledge of the Clock Tower. "It figures" He replied bitterly. "I have a dream about him and you show up."

Naminé walked over to him, feet scraping against the stone of the Clock Tower. She had her sketchbook with her, sitting down beside Roxas, she placed it on her lap. Naminé leaned forward mimicking his position, turning her head as she peered curiously into his face. "You had a dream about Sora?"

Roxas met her gaze, eyes hardening. "You should know, shouldn't you?"

Naminé shook her head, looking towards the sky. "It wasn't me Roxas, if you're remembering Sora you're doing it on your own but I wouldn't be worried about it. It's normal I think."

Roxas continued to watch her. The last time he saw Naminé it had been five months ago, she had stepped between him and Sora, then he'd inadvertently thrown her against a wall. Now she was talking to him as if it happened everyday. "What do you want Naminé?" He snapped.

Naminé blinked, looking back toward him. "Nothing, I just…I wanted to talk to you"

There was only thing Roxas could think of that Naminé would want to talk about. Sora. Roxas angrily lifted himself from the ledge of the Clock Tower, planning to walk off and leave all together. "I'm not interested."

Naminé's eyes were shinning and she looked as if she wanted to reach out a hand towards him, but instead curled her finger around her palm, placing a fist to her chest. "Roxas no please, if you think I came here because of Sora, I didn't. I said I wanted to talk to you"

Roxas sighed, he hadn't even gotten the chance to fully stand up yet but he let himself settle back down beside her. "About what?" He asked in a chipped tone.

Naminé glanced down at her sketchbook, distractedly playing with the edge of it. "I don't know. How do you like Twilight Town?"

Roxas laughed mostly out of nervous tension. "That's it? You came up here to ask me how I like Twilight Town?"

"Well I…saw you up here and I was lonely" Naminé replied quietly. "Riku is gone, DIZ left awhile ago. Sometimes Donald and Goofy come by to check on Sora when they get the chance. There's another group that comes by too. They live in Hollow Bastion. Aerith even asked me once if I wanted to go back with them but I can't. I need to stay with Sora."

"Aerith" Roxas repeated thoughtfully. He recognized the name and pressed his lips together, narrowing his eyes in concentration, trying to recall his dream, surprised when everything easily came back to him. "I think I know who you're talking about. She has long brown hair and she wears a lot of pink right? Then there's Leon, Yuffie, and some others. Donald and Goofy were those two animals asleep with Sora. They were all in my dream."

Naminé nodded enthusiastically, eyes brightening. "Yes! That's them. See you really are starting to remember Sora, Roxas!"

"It's not like it matters" Roxas replied coldly.

"Maybe not..."

"So Donald and Goofy" Roxas said quickly changing the subject. "You said they come to see you? Meaning they're awake now?"

"Oh that's right you wouldn't know. I was able to wake them up and they left to try and help the worlds so now it's basically just Sora and me…" Naminé trailed off looking solemn before, forcing a faint smile. "Sora is a very good listener but he doesn't like to talk much."

Roxas stretched out on the ledge, making himself more comfortable, crossing his legs and placing his hands behind his back "Yeah, I've figured that out" He said idly.

Naminé brushed a stray piece of blonde hair behind her ear and folded her arms on top of her sketchbook. "So you know about me then. What about you? You never did answer on how you like Twilight Town."

Roxas shrugged. "Twilight Town is okay or as good as any other place. I usually work while my friends are at school and then we hang out. It's kind of like a cycle but today we were going to see a movie. It's really nice to have them around. Hayner, Pence, and Olette those are my friends."

"Yes, I know"

Roxas shot her a stunned look. "You do?"

Naminé tensed, looking uneasy. "Those were the friends DIZ was going to give you in the simulation. It would have played out as if you really were in Twilight Town and… I've also been watching you."

"Okay the simulation I can understand but you've been watching me?" Roxas grinned, running a hand through his hair. "You sound like you're infatuated with me or something but hey it's not like I'm not used to it."

Naminé gasped. "Really? I mean no. I mean I'm sorry…that was just apart of the plan that DIZ, Donald, Goofy, King Mickey, and I came up with…in case anything would happen…and there's…I mean I don't really have anything else."

Roxas's grin broadened. "Why can no one ever tell when I'm joking? I wasn't serious Naminé. I know. I get it. Don't worry about it okay?"

Naminé nodded and returned Roxas's smile instantly relived. "So" She said while swinging her legs absently. "Have you heard anything from the organization?"

"No, nothing at all. Either they've given up on me, their completely ignoring me, or Axel is finally coming through for once."

"That's still kind of odd don't you think?"

"I don't know it's the organization. I gave up trying to figure them out a long time ago."

"Either way" Naminé said reflectively. "I hope it's a good thing they're keeping quite. I have some connections too since I've been talking back and fourth with Leon and the others and Donald and Goofy. I haven't heard anything either but I'll let you know if I do."

"Thanks"

Naminé straightened her shoulders and leaned forward, looking pensively at Roxas. "Is there any reason you decided to stay in Twilight Town. Are you happy here?"

"I could say I'm happy or as much as I'm capable of it. As for staying in Twilight Town I needed somewhere to go to avoid the organization and to start over. Twilight Town was the best choice, plus it's the closest place to Sora and if anything were to happen which I'm sure it will eventually, it would be right here, so it's not like I'm missing out on anything. I'm binding my time until then."

Naminé lifted a hand to her mouth, stifling laughter. "Kind of like undercover?"

"Sure, you could say that" Roxas paused. He found it easy to talk to Naminé and for once he didn't have to watch what he said, before he knew it, he was saying more then what he intended, voice coming out in a rush. "It's nice not having to be apart of the organization anymore. I don't have to worry about death every other day. It wasn't easy being the youngest out of everyone either. Seriously, imagine living with Larxene and eleven power hungry guys, which at least half are about three times your age, you're made to go out and fight heartless until you can hardly move, and even though you're the lowest ranked you're still Xemnas's 'favorite' and he's constantly breathing down your neck. I do miss the fighting sometimes but overall I like it better out here and I get to make my own decisions for once."

Naminé rested her chin on her hand and looked intently up at the sky. "I'm glad you like it here and…I can imagine that. I even lived through some of it at Castle Oblivion, but not like you did…and I never did meet Xemnas or not that I know of anyway."

"You're not missing anything"

"Hmmm…it's really pretty up here isn't it?" Naminé asked distantly.

"It's nice" Roxas relented.

"I like talking to you Roxas" Naminé said in the same far off voice without taking her eyes from the sky.

Roxas watched her in silence for a few minutes before he was struck with an idea. "Have you ever tried sea salt ice cream?" He asked quickly.

Naminé turned her head, face brightening instantly. "Yes! Once Riku brought me some and he-" Naminé cut herself short realizing what she just said and that Roxas was deeply frowning at her. "I'm…I….Sorry"

"The dog?" Roxas smirked.

Naminé's expression turned somber as she cast her eyes back down to her sketchbook, once more starting to pick at the edge of it. "Riku" She said, her voice tight. "His name was Riku."

Roxas was sure Naminé wanted to ask more about what really happened that night, he could see it in the way her body had stiffened and the blank look in her eyes but she remained quiet. That night had led to a lot of things Roxas didn't want to revisit and he wasn't about to mention anything on what really happened to Riku. He would leave first and guessed Naminé must have realized this and didn't want to take the chance. She was practically desperate just to talk to him. Roxas stood up from the ledge of the Clock Tower, lifting his arms over his head and stretching. "Yeah I know so do you want to go get some?"

Naminé jerked her head up, confusion evident on her face. "Get some what?"

"Sea salt ice cream."

Naminé blinked. "Now."

"Sure, why not?" Roxas said dismissively "It's better then sitting around here."

A smile slowly came to Naminé's face. "Alright, that sounds nice."

Roxas extended his hand and Naminé took it, her slim fingers curling around his. Roxas could feel something there, the same connection from the first time he'd met her and it flowed between them, strong and familiar but he over looked it, quickly pulled Naminé to her feet, and walked toward the stairway of the Clock Tower. "And we have to walk down no teleporting."

"Why not?" Naminé asked as she quickened her pace so she was walking beside him.

"If someone else came into the Clock Tower or if someone saw us from down below it couldn't led to anything good."

Naminé ran a hand through her hair. "That's right" She said guiltily. "I never had to worry about that before."

"Plus" Roxas replied coolly, even if he was biting his tongue to keep the laughter out of his voice. "It would kind of ruin the whole undercover thing."

Naminé couldn't help her smile as they reached the stairway.

0o0o0o0

Kairi was sitting on the beach, her bare feet barely brushing the edge of the surf, the sand cool and wet, clumping together, sticking to her legs. She could smell the weak and frosty wind, mixed in with the normal salty and warm breeze from the sea, making her feel chilled to the bone as if needles made of ice had pierced her skin. Hugging her knees, she shivered despite how hot it was.

It was still in the early hours of morning but the sun had already risen, making most of the sky its usual pale blue but another and distant part of the sky brimmed with darkness, filled with heavy clouds the color of ash and charcoal. Sheer black rose from the sea like an empty void, obscuring water into a pool of glinting and murky ebony. Darkness branched out like searching claws corrupting anything it touched. This wasn't anything new, the darkness had been building up over the past five months, starting as nothing more then a single speck in the sky but slowly it began to spread.

Kairi lived on a topical island, storms came and went almost every week. Some were nothing more then a refreshing and warm mist while others had winds strong enough to bend trees and sheets of rain so heavy they felt more like falling fragments of crystal, so no one paid any attention to the gathering mass in the sky. They said it was just a storm, it would pass but it hadn't passed and Kairi knew it never would. There was so much more to it, she could sense the danger whenever she looked into the remote and hollow darkness, leaving her feeling terrified and a cold sense of death.

Somewhere she knew this had happened before. There had been another storm exactly like this one, a storm that started everything. The only difference was there'd been no build up, it came one night out of nowhere, without warning, fast and lethal, bringing the heartless, and ripping apart Destiny Islands until there was nothing left. She never had the chance to defend herself or to even blink. The storm separated her, the boy, and Riku, and because of it she was here alone but there was something more. She'd lost something that night but her memory of it was vague. Something was torn from her body. What had it been? Her essence, her soul, her heart? Then she'd fallen asleep, into a coma? It was so hard for her to remember.

A flash of lightening brought Kairi out of her thoughts. It was so far off but the gleaming yellow stood out intensely against the black part of the sky like some sort of twisted snake. Kairi felt a sense of hopelessness and dread cut through her stomach and for a split second she wanted to scream, to run, but she was surrounded by water and there was nowhere to escape.

Kairi absently reached for her charm, her charm that she made with her own hands, spent hours on threading seashells together. It was in the shape of a five pointed star and she often found herself, gripping it whenever she was frightened until her knuckles turned white. So many times she'd ran her fingers over it, feeling the glassy surface, clutching it to her chest, holding it to her heart, keeping it with her constantly, never letting go. She yearned for its comforting and familiar weight and her hand was half way to her leg, before realizing she didn't have it anymore because he'd given it to him, that boy.

Kairi's hands traveled to the white pendent at her throat instead, grasping it between her palms and twirling her fingers in the thin black string. She shut her eyes tightly and pressed her forehead to her knees. She couldn't stand to see Destiny Islands crash again, she didn't even know if she would survive it this time. Kairi only wanted to disappear, she felt abandoned, as if she was drowning but no matter how she called, struggled, or fought no one would throw her the lifeline. Whatever the storm brought she would have to face alone, save herself, sink or swim. Then came the sudden shrill call of an island bird, the gentle lapping of waves, and the moment was gone. Kairi let her hands fall from her throat and dig into the sand, anchoring herself for another day spent waiting.

"Hey Kairi!"

Kairi glanced over her shoulder, seeing Selphie waving to her in the distance. Selphie smiled brightly and bounded over, her yellow sundress blowing behind her in the faint breeze and her caramel colored hair bouncing at her shoulders. She skidded to a halt, sitting down beside Kairi all in one motion, causing a spray of sand to hit the redhead's arm.

Selphie lifted a hand to her mouth, muffling an apologetic shriek. "Sorry!"

Kairi forced a smile that did not reach her eyes, brushing herself off. "It's alright."

"Cool" Selphie replied in her usual cheery and energetic voice. "So hey Kairi, anything up?"

"No, not really"

Selphie pushed her legs out in front of her and leaned forward, relaxing into the sand before tilting her head, glancing at Kairi inquisitively. "Still waiting for Riku and that boy?"

Kairi could see Selphie's eyes had hardened and there was a little bit of an edge to her voice when she said the word 'boy' but it was easily hidden under her still gleeful expression. Kairi nodded, but didn't say anything.

"How long has it been now?" Selphie asked strangely solemn. "A year and a half?"

"About that."

"Okay so anyway!" Selphie nearly shouted all smiles again and dismissing the issue as soon as she'd brought it up. "I wanted to know if you would like to come to the blitzball game with me tonight."

"Blitzball game?" Kairi repeated puzzled. "What blitzball game?"

"Sorry Kairi but duh! It's only what the whole school was been so hyped up about. You know the championship. Tidus and Wakka are going to be in it. They've only been talking about it since forever. It's like the biggest game of their lives. You have to come see it."

Kairi ran a hand through her hair, casting her eyes down to the sand. "Right, I remember. I just didn't know it was today. I forgot about it."

Selphie shrugged. "That doesn't matter you can still go. It's going to be so much fun. You should see Tidus. He's the star. You wouldn't really know since you've never been to any of his games but he's really grown up a lot and he's so much better then what he used to be. I bet you no one can beat him."

"And he practices every night for exactly two hours" Kairi said carelessly.

"Really? He does?"

"Yes, he comes out at the same time every night just on the other side of the beach. I can hear him out there sometimes."

"I didn't know that." Selphie said with a mock pout. "You should come get me next time and then we can sneak up on him and watch."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Yeah, I know" Selphie sighed dreamily. "But you have to admit Tidus has gotten pretty hot and I know we're just friends and everything but you can't blame a girl for wanting to watch, can you?"

"Selphie-"

"Okay, okay" Selphie continued lightheartedly. "I'm just playing around but you should come to the blitzball game, if nothing else just to cheer Tidus and Wakka on."

"Selphie, I can't"

"Aww c'mon" The brown haired girl just about whined. "I'm sure your mystery boy can take a break for a day."

"Selphie I'm sorry but I don't want to leave or take the chance that when he comes back there'll be no one here for him. I can't go with you…this is where I want to stay."

Selphie fell silent her smile all but disappearing and folded her hands in her lap, turning her head, looking out to sea. "Kairi" She said softly, after a long pause. "Its been a really long time" Selphie lifted an arm and pointed into the distance. "Look there's nothing out there. I don't think he's coming."

"He'll come" Kairi replied defensively, her voice coming out harsher then she meant it too. "And I'll be here when he does."

Selphie's shoulders slumped, her expression uncharacteristically serious but she mainly just seemed sad and defeated. "I don't know what happened to Riku or why he left and I admire your devotion to wait for him and that boy. I really do, it's almost like something out of a romance novel but you're wasting away out here Kairi. I'm worried about you."

Kairi felt instantly guilty. She reached out a hand, wanting to comfort her friend but quickly decided against it, letting her arm drop back to her side and curling her fingers into the wet sand. "Selphie, please don't, I'm fine really."

Selphie frowned and narrowed her eyes, jerking her head to meet Kairi's gaze. "No you're not!" She snapped "You're waiting for a boy who no one remembers. He doesn't even have a name. You made him up. He doesn't exist Kairi. It's the only thing that makes sense!"

"He's real" Kairi replied, her voice calm and unwavering. "Rather you believe in him or not."

"What do you expect, for him to come running out of the ocean and magically sweep you off your feet?"

"I don't-"

"You're living a dream Kairi!"

Kairi had never seen Selphie so worked up before and it left her friend panting slightly. Selphie looked away from her and they both lapsed into uneasy silence, but it didn't last long before Selphie audibly groaned. "Oh would some just apologize before I go insane."

Kairi bit her tongue holding back the relieved laughter that rose to her throat "Sorry."

"Yeah, I'm sorry too. It's just I miss you Kairi. Without you there's only Tidus and Wakka to hang out with, which don't get me wrong I like having them around and everything but sometimes I want someone to do girl stuff with. You know? Really what I'm trying to say is I miss my friend."

"I'm still here."

"No you're not, not really. I mean you're here but it's like your mind is always someplace else."

Kairi frowned. "It's hard to explain. It's just…it feels like there's a piece of me missing without him, without something more…" She trailed off and shrugged. "I'm doing the best I can."

"I know you are" Selphie said slowly, looking deep in thought. "That boy, he's really important to you isn't he?"

"He means so much to me" Kairi answered firmly. "Even if I can't remember the reason but he's my hope, my dreams, my world. The key to everything…"

Selphie sighed. "Wow, he must really be something."

"And he's out there Selphie. I know he is somewhere and what if he needs my help? I won't be the one to abandon him."

There was a minute of silence as Selphie looked to turn over what Kairi had just said. "I believe you" She said at last.

"You do?"

"Yeah" Selphie answered with startling honesty in her voice. "I don't think I'm the one to tell you he's not real. I know you Kairi and you're smart, dedicated, and wonderful. You wouldn't be distancing yourself like this unless there was a reason and you wouldn't be so sure of yourself. You always seem to know what you're doing and I trust you, so maybe there is something I'm forgetting or that only you can see but I want you to know, I believe you."

Kairi felt completely grateful to Selphie, feeling a sense of belonging that she hadn't experienced in a long time, and she smiled faintly. "Thanks, that's nice to hear."

"Is it okay if I just sit with you for a few minutes?"

"Of course it is, I'd like that."

"We can wait together" Selphie said confidently "Who knows maybe he will come today."

Kairi looked back to the sky, feeling the instant chill. She turned her head to see if maybe Selphie had noticed it too, but the brown haired girl was staring fixedly at the ground and had restored to drawing patterns in the sand. "Selphie look at the sky. What do you see?"

Selphie jerked her head up, gazing into the over looming darkness, and frowned. "Oh you mean the storm?"

"It's been building up for five months."

"I wouldn't worry about it" Selphie shrugged dismissively. "A storm is just a storm. I mean we practically get them all the time even if that looks like a big one…okay a really big one but it's probably going to pass right over us. It's so far away."

"It's more then a storm." Kairi stated. "There's something coming."

"Really? Like what?"

"I'm not sure exactly" Kairi said reflectively. "But this has happened before. There was another storm like this and it tore apart Destiny Islands and it brought the darkness…"

Selphie blinked. "But Destiny Islands is still here."

"I know you can't remember it but-"

"Lighten up Kairi" Selphie said, cutting her friend off with a giggle. "It's just a storm besides even if it struck today it's not like it can ruin the blitzball game since you play blitzball in a pool in the first place and so the game is inside a stadium."

Kairi shook her head. "No, that's not what I meant"

"What is it then?"

Kairi turned her head to look back over at Selphie. Her friend had taken back to poking through the sand before she dug out a pearl gray clamshell. She dusted the sand off, completely unconcerned and Kairi let the issue go. "Nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's nothing."

"If you say so" Selphie replied airily as she continued to clean the clam shell before, holding it up to the sun.

0o0o0o0

Roxas and Naminé were walking through the downtown area of Twilight Town. There were several shops and winding paths made of yellow and brown stone. Not many people were out yet but there were still a few, mostly just vendors setting their things up to sell.

Naminé was staying close beside Roxas, to the point where their shoulders were almost touching. She was acting like some kind of coiled up spring, with a death grip on her sketchbook, and eyes constantly darting in all directions. Roxas could feel her body had stiffened and had to remind himself that she wasn't used to this. The sounds of ringing bells, chattering voices, the smells of cooking food, perfume, and leather, the gleam of polished metal from displays, and the shops with brightly colored signs were all new to her.

"You don't like the crowd" Roxas stated finally.

Naminé spun her head towards him as if she was surprised he'd spoken. "I'm not used to it."

"I know how you feel. I didn't like it at first either and I still don't. I'm not going to say you get used to it but you learn to tolerate it."

"It's not that I don't like it" Naminé replied anxiously. "It's nice but it's just different."

Roxas shrugged. "It doesn't matter anyway." He pointed to a stand a few feet in front of them, framed by a blue curtain and looked liked it had been carved into the surrounding brick wall. "We're here."

Roxas left Naminé's side before she could say anything and returned shortly with two sea salt ice cream bars. He held one out to her and Naminé took it pressing it to her lips, savoring the taste, and smiled. The only time she ever had one had been so long ago. "Thanks Roxas"

"Sure, I figured it's the least I could do after…" Roxas trailed off, hesitating for a moment before continuing. "You know."

Naminé's thoughts inadvertently strayed back to the night when Roxas, enraged and desperate, had broken into DIZ's lab, almost ending everything, almost ending Sora, but no matter how hopeless the situation, Naminé knew Roxas could have never really gone through with it but still it had been close, a lot closer then she waned to admit and Naminé quickly shook her head, ridding herself of the unwanted image. "It's alright don't mention it."

Roxas turned away from her, scanning the area. "Right, so lets go find a place to sit down before the ice cream melts all over my hand."

Naminé felt a small sense of accomplishment when she spotted a place before Roxas. It was a small bench just to her right and in an opened area but away from most of the main shops with a tree shading it that looked to be coming up from the stone walkway. Naminé wondered how it was able to grow that way, it seemed entirely out of place. "What about over there?"

Roxas followed her line of vision, noticing the bench "Fine with me"

Naminé started toward it, but only managed a couple of steps before she realized Roxas wasn't following. She looked back to him, seeing his entire body had gone ridged, his ice cream hanging limply from his fingers, his knees bent, leaning forward, looking ready to run or defend himself. His face was expressionless but his eyes were narrowed in deep concentration, staring ahead at something she couldn't see.

Naminé's blood ran cold with instant distress as she looked around frantically, trying to find what had Roxas so on edge, nothing to her came across as being any different, but what if they were being pursued, had someone from the organization found them? "Roxas…" Naminé said trying to keep her voice level but it came out no more then a whisper. "What's-"

Naminé was cut off when Roxas sprinted forward, his hand closing securely around her wrist, making her nearly drop her ice cream and sketchbook. The next thing she knew they were running, their surroundings going by in a blur. Roxas was fast, almost impossibly fast and Naminé stumble trying to keep up with him but Roxas didn't appear to notice. All she could do was continue to blindly let him drag her forward.

Roxas stopped without warning and Naminé was pulled roughly downwards, her knees nearly skidding across the concrete. As soon as she could focus she realized they were ducking behind a deserted hotdog stand and kneeling on the ground with their backs against the stand's metal frame. Naminé was practically crushed against Roxas's side, and he still hadn't let go of her wrist. His body was turned so he was looking over his shoulder and out onto the street, scowling.

"Roxas-" Naminé gasped. It was all she was able to say before Roxas's hand left her wrist and clamped tightly over her mouth. Naminé remained still as she felt panic consume her, not even daring to breathe, thinking about the organization, being locked in a room, pictures, and endless white. Larxene, knocking her across the floor and gripping her chin with long, cool fingers, forcefully turning her head. '_Behind that cute little face you do some awful things.' _Marluxia's hand on her shoulder, as he leaned forward to whisper to her, his hot breath at her ear. _'Draw me a picture'_ Naminé shivered, hoping above anything Roxas hadn't felt it.

She still couldn't see anything wrong and the only thing even remotely out of place was a man walking down one of the many curving pathways. He was wearing a green suit, had a large stomach, black sideburns, but a bald head that the sun was glinting off of, whistling happily and carrying what looked like a large stack of papers. Roxas was trailing him with his eyes and as soon as the man disappeared around a corner, Roxas's hand left her mouth. He stood up pulling her with him and walked out from behind the hotdog stand without saying anything. Naminé followed, still slightly shaky, with wide eyes.

"That was close" Roxas said sounding proud of himself and turning to her.

"What was close?" Naminé asked as she blinked in confusion. "Is everything okay? Was it the organization?"

It was Roxas's turn to look puzzled. "You thought it was the organization?" 

"It wasn't?"

"No" Roxas said, looking somewhat guilty. "If it was the organization I would have acted sooner and we wouldn't have hidden in plain sight…it wasn't the organization. Did I scare you?"

"A little."

"Sorry, I didn't really explain anything did I?"

"What were we hiding from?" Naminé asked, her trembling had stilled but she couldn't help a small amount of alarm and fear from showing through her voice. "Are you sure everything's okay?"

"It's fine, didn't you see that large guy walking down the road a minute ago?"

"We were hiding from the guy with the papers?" Naminé asked blankly.

"Posters" Roxas corrected, smiling weakly, looking uncomfortable and hesitant. "He's my boss and I'm off today but from the looks of it he just got in a new batch of posters and if he saw me out here, he would probably ask me to work and I don't want to right now since I already told you I'm hanging out with my friends today…so there you go"

Doubt and worry was replaced by cold relief as Naminé realized she'd been worked up over nothing. Everything Roxas had said, including his reaction seemed so completely ordinary, and when she thought about it, so completely 'Roxas'. The vacant expression faded from Naminé's face and she smiled, lifting a hand to her mouth, trying to hold back laughter and failing.

"It's not funny!" Roxas shot back defensively.

"Sorry" Naminé said but didn't make a further move to suppress her laughter, only clutched at her chest, laughing harder. "But yes…it is…"

"Okay, maybe it is kind of funny." Roxas relented.

"You're very dynamic Roxas" Naminé chocked out.

"I swear if you say one more word…"

"Sorry" Naminé picked her head up, wiping away the wetness that had gathered at corner of her eyes, before quickly holding up her dripping and somewhat smashed sea salt ice cream. "Should we go finish these?"

Roxas nodded, looking at his own ice cream which wasn't in any better shape. He walked over to the bench, sat down moodily, followed shortly by Naminé.

They ate in silence for a minute, quickly finishing what was left of their ice cream before Naminé noticed a couple of white birds a few feet away, pecking at bread crumbs from between the crevices of the stone pathway. She wasn't really used to birds, especially seeing them this close and her eyes brightened as she watched them. "I like the birds."

Roxas turned his head, eyes flickering to the birds. "Birds are another thing you have to get used too. They're everywhere here."

Naminé had the sudden inspiration to sketch them. She opened her sketchbook, placing it on her lap, and took out a pencil that she had stored in the metal spiral, beginning to draw.

Roxas watched her. "Do you carry that thing around with you everywhere you go?"

"Its been with me from the first moment I was aware of anything and I've kept it that way ever since"

"Then that would mean you've almost had it what? A year and a half? Don't you ever run out of pages on it?"

"It's magic" Naminé answered without looking away from her drawing. "The pages grow back."

"Wait that's not…and you're not serious."

Naminé looked up, seeing Roxas's disbelieving stare and grinned. "I replace the pages or sometimes I just use loose paper."

"I knew that."

"Did you?"

"Yes, so why are you always drawing anyway?" Roxas countered.

"I like to draw" Naminé said easily while tapping her pencil against the edge of her sketchbook. "Plus it helps me focus and… I can draw scenes and make others believe they're true or that they really happened, so it's connected with my power."

"And your power is completely manipulating the memories of others?" Roxas asked thoughtfully.

"Yes" Naminé replied, her tone emotionless.

"Okay, I don't really know much about the Castle Oblivion thing but I wasn't entirely out of the loop. Wasn't the reason the organization had you there because you could only control the memories of those whose hearts are aligned with Sora's? Or can you do it with others too?"

"It's a lot easier if they are connected with Sora's but I've learned I can do it with others." _The Riku Replica Naminé's mind screamed._ She almost flinched at the thought and her hand tightened around her pencil. "I have done it with others…other."

Unconcerned, Roxas leaned forward, his eyes shinning in interest. "So you can alter the memories of anyone you want?"

Naminé half frowned at Roxas, wondering where he was going with this. "Basically, yes."

Roxas straightened himself and pointed to a skinny, beaming, and waving man behind the sea salt ice cream stand. "Okay, so you see that guy over there?"

"You mean the one you brought the sea salt ice cream from?"

"Right, can you make him think I gave him…I don't know 10,000 munny to much?"

"What? Roxas no!"

Roxas chuckled. "Hey, I'm just kidding, but seriously what good are mind altering powers if you can't have some fun with them?"

"Then maybe it's a good thing you don't have them" Naminé replied idly.

Roxas placed his hands behind his head and leaned back on the bench, the gesture strangely reminiscent of Sora "If I did. I wouldn't even need keyblades. Everyone I fought I could just make them forget all their abilities. That probably wouldn't work so good on heartless though."

"It's not like that, but that is kind of the point on why the organization wanted me in the first place."

"Yeah, well Xemnas should have made you apart of the organization" Roxas continued absently. "Then we could have been Organization XIV, if you don't share in Xemnas's obsession and the glory that is his precious Kingdom Hearts, then we have the power to brain wash you."

Naminé shook her head, working on shading in the wing of a bird. "You have the strangest sense of humor Roxas."

Roxas shrugged. "I won't argue with that, but compared to most of the Organization at least I have a sense of humor. I think it comes from hanging around Hayner, Pence, and Olette too much."

Naminé sighed as she set her pencil down and looked up to the sky, seeming deep in thought, silent for a long moment. "This world is staring to die. Can you feel it?" She asked distantly.

"I've noticed" Roxas said dryly, all traces of humor leaving his voice.

"It won't be too much longer until it begins to fall apart."

"So, it's not like it matters all I have to do is leave."

"You're right " Naminé said softly. "I can leave too, for us it's easy but what about all of the others. They're stuck here. Whatever happens to their world happens to them."

"I already know that!" Roxas snapped. "I've seen exactly what happens when the heartless come and worlds fall. I've even lived in one. Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you care don't you?" Naminé replied honestly. "You care about what happens to Hayner, Pence, and Olette."

"I thought we weren't talking about this" Roxas answered coldly.

Naminé nodded, hearing the venom in Roxas's words but also noticing he hadn't denied it. "Sorry" She whispered.

"Don't mention it" Roxas said grudgingly and after a pause "Your birds flew away."

Naminé glanced at the ground, noticing where the birds had been was only empty space. "It's alright I finished the outline. I can fill in the details later" She reached a hand up to close her sketchbook.

"Can I see?" Roxas asked when she was half way through the motion.

Naminé turned her head toward him. "See what?"

"Your sketchbook. I want to see the pictures."

A small smile formed on Naminé's lips. "Really?"

"Sure, if that's okay."

Naminé nodded excitedly. "Of course it is! I'd love to show you Roxas. It's just no one has ever asked to see them before."

"Then I'm the first" Roxas said as he held his hand out.

Naminé flipped her sketchbook back to the beginning and quickly gave it to Roxas. She leaned toward him, so she was peering over his arm, her smile growing.

The first picture was of a spiral staircase that was so long it seemed virtually endless. It was done in pencil and so detailed it looked as if it was coming off the page. Roxas wondered, if he reached in if he would be able to touch it. "Wow, that's really good."

Naminé beamed at the praise. "Thank you, it's the staircase in Castle Oblivion."

Roxas looked over the picture again, seeing it in a different light. "I always did wonder what that looked liked. I didn't realize it was so infinite…Did Sora actually have to climb all those stairs?"

"Yes, and he did."

"I can't believe I'm saying this but I almost feel sorry for him, keyword being _almos_t. The organization had to have given him a hard time…and that's really a lot of stairs."

"He made it through."

Roxas grunted and turned the page. The next picture was of Sora in the process of being enclosed by a white pod. The brunet's eyes were staring blankly ahead and partially closed, it looked haunting. "You put Sora to sleep right? To restore his memories after the whole Castle Oblivion disaster and this is when it happened?"

"Yes, that was after he reached the top of the tower."

Roxas felt a sudden chill, although he wasn't sure why and hastily flipped the page to see four figures in black robes. Two were in the background that he couldn't identify but the other two in front, he recognized as himself and Axel, standing side by side. The picture was blurred, looking as if it was no more then scribbled flashes of color put together.

"That's you and Axel" Naminé said helpfully.

"I noticed, why are we so sketchy?"

"Because I didn't know you at the time."

The answer strangely made sense and Roxas nodded, shrugging if off, turning the page. "Nice job on Axel's hair by the way."

Naminé held back a giggle. "Thanks."

The next picture was of an island, done in crayon and all of the colors were bright with a large sun. There were four figures of kids each of them lined up and…

"Why is everyone holding hands?" Roxas smirked.

"Because they're all happy to be together."

Roxas's eyes skimmed over the picture, studying it intently. "That's Destiny Islands right? Before the storm came, so who is everyone?"

"It's Destiny Islands" Naminé confirmed, shifting closer to Roxas so she could reach a hand over his arm and point to all of the figures. "That's me."

Roxas gave her a strange look.

"I was never on Destiny Islands." She answered the unasked question.

"Then why…?"

"I kind of wanted to add myself in and I was made to…I drew it in the tower." Naminé said uneasily.

Roxas made a small noise in acknowledgment, not wanting to go further into the issue. "What about the others?"

Naminé shot him a relived look, sweeping her finger further across the page. "That's Riku, Sora, and-"

"Kairi" Roxas finished breathlessly.

"Kairi" Naminé repeated.

Roxas traced the rough figure with the red hair and blue-violet eyes that was nothing more then crayon marks. He felt strange, knew that somewhere he cared about her, that she was the most important person to him. Kairi was only a shadowed memory in his mind and he barely knew her name but Roxas felt he wanted to be with her, to hold on to her even if he didn't understand why. He pressed his fingers into the page as if he could pull her out from it. "This is Kairi" Roxas said again, liking the way her name sounded on his tongue.

Naminé nodded but didn't reply.

"She's that girl that I…that Sora likes"

"Was she in your dream?" Naminé asked quietly.

Roxas pictured Kairi standing in a cave by a closed door, a violent gust of wind knocking her backwards, and he'd opened his arms to catch her but she passed right through him, then how desperate he was to save her after. "Yeah…she lost her heart I think. I'm supposed to find her. I have to get to her but I don't know where she is or even what happened to her." Roxas lifted his arms, running his hands through his hair, voice coming out choked and desperate. "I hate this! I hate not being able to remember anything!"

"She's okay Roxas" Naminé said softly. "Sora rescued her and restored her heart, she's back on Destiny Islands."

Roxas jerked his head toward Naminé, staring at her with a mixture of uncertainty and relief. "Sora restored her heart? How?"

"I'm not sure."

"But you just said Kairi is okay. Then how can you know that?"

Naminé attempted a half smile. "I don't have a lot of the details but I know the basic story. You're forgetting I've been with DIZ and Riku for the last year."

"And what? Riku told you this?"

"He lived through it."

"That doesn't mean anything."

"It wasn't all Riku, actually most of it wasn't since Riku didn't like to talk about it. When the organization had me I was supposed to make Sora listen to me by replacing Kairi's identity with my own and I'm sure you already know a lot of the story, anyway I picked up a lot of it then."

Roxas sighed but looked to accept the answer and handed the sketchbook roughly back to Naminé. "I shouldn't go any further."

"I understand" Naminé replied a bit forlornly.

"I want to see Kairi" Roxas said absently. "If only to make sure she's okay."

"It's probably only right that you would want to see her, she is very important to Sora."

Roxas clenched his hands in frustration. "I know, I feel this connection with her even if I'm just looking at a picture. Kairi means so much to me when she shouldn't. I've never even met her. She's important to Sora, so who cares?! That doesn't mean I have to feel the same way about her but I do or at least a fraction of it and I hate it!"

"Maybe, you'll remember more about her in time and it will make it easier. I'm not sure but " Naminé stared down at her drawing longingly, of herself, Riku, Sora, and Kairi holding hands under a smiling sun, quickly closing her sketchbook. "One thing I do know is Kairi is very lucky."

"So is Sora."

"I used to want to be Kairi" Naminé said distantly. "I was so jealous. I would have given anything to have her life. Everything about her seemed so perfect. She's even a princess and she has people who love her. All I ever had were empty rooms, I couldn't even begin to compare to her and I still can't. I listened to the organization and I did things I regret but I realized the pain I was causing Kairi and the others important to her…now I don't feel jealous towards her at all. I only hope she knows how special she is and that she's happy."

"Jealously, being alone, having nothing I can relate."

"I know you can…" Naminé trailed off, looking pensive before she took a deep breath and continued. "When I was in the tower, Axel told me once that nobodies can't be somebodies. Do you think that's true?"

"I don't know" Roxas answered uncaringly.

"I don't believe it" Naminé said defiantly. "Maybe I did then but I don't now" She lowered her head, blonde hair falling to shadow her face, loosing any of her pervious confidence and looking between sad and wistful. "I want to see Kairi too, maybe that's why, so I can feel important. I'm sure I will someday but I don't think the time is right yet. I wonder what she's like, what she would think of me."

Roxas wanted to brush her hair back, to see if it felt as soft as it looked. The impulse was strange like some disjointed feeling and he didn't understand it, so Roxas's made his hand stay carefully motionless by his side. Looking, at Naminé he almost felt the same as he did with Kairi but it was different, sensing a link with the blonde haired girl that ran deeper but more obscured.

Then something clicked in Roxas's mind, his words coming out in a rush, voice rising in excitement. "You're connected with Sora somehow aren't you? That's why you could manipulate his memories so easily and when I'm around you I feel like there's something tying us together. I felt a connection with the…with Riku too. And I can feel one with Kairi from just looking at a drawing of her but with you…it's like you bring something out in me like I've always known you. Do you feel it too?"

Naminé looked at him out of dulled eyes. "I feel it. I felt it from the first moment I met you."

"Me too" Roxas replied quickly "Then you are connected with Sora. What happened in your past life?"

"I don't remember" Naminé answered simply.

That instantly had Roxas's full attention. In the next second his hand was gripping the back of the bench and he was leaning over Naminé, looking directly into her face, eyes shining with desperation. "That doesn't make any sense!" Roxas said frantically. "All nobodies remember their past lives. That's almost all they remember. I'm supposed to be the only one."

"We seem to have a lot more in common then you might think Roxas" Naminé replied unfazed.

Roxas smirked, forcing himself to lower his voice and move back a little. "I'm beginning to realize that, so you really can't remember anything?"

"No, nothing it's completely blank, kind of strange when the girl who controls memories can't remember anything about her own life."

Most of Roxas's initial shock had faded only leaving confusion and a desire for the truth. "But how…how is that possible?"

"You're not alone it that your other is still alive."

Roxas felt something in his stomach twist and his eyes widened. All this time he'd thought he'd been unique, thought he'd been alone but Naminé had been here the whole time. It was another thing the organization failed to tell him, more deceit Xemnas feed him. Roxas wondered if Naminé spent endless nights like he had in turmoil, trying anything to remember, or if she felt there was something more out there. She must have, she went against the organization. Roxas wanted to ask her so much but he was able to only form one word from his suddenly tight throat "Who?"

Naminé turned her head, her face impassive, hollowed eyes staring into his sapphire blue and somehow Roxas knew. In an instant it all came together, why he felt almost the same connection to her as he did with Kairi, why the organization had wanted her, why she almost succeeded in controlling Sora, Naminé's jealously over Kairi, her desire to meet her. Naminé was right they really were a lot alike when he allowed himself to think about it. "Kairi" Roxas whispered. "You're Kairi's nobody."

Naminé didn't answer, only studied his face, looking for a reaction.

Roxas jerked completely away from her like he'd been burned. They both stared at each other as if they were in a type of trance, afraid to move. Then slowly Roxas forced a smile, it was half amused, half shattered, and he laughed. "Well that's just perfect. It's like something out of a fairytale. Sora and Kairi, you and me. We both have the ability to join with them, so lets say we do and we get our hearts back, then Sora and Kairi stay together and so do we. We all live happily ever after. The end."

Naminé looked away from him, glancing up at the fractured sky. "Somehow this doesn't seem so perfect."

"It's as close or as messed up as we're going to get" Roxas said icily.

Naminé let her head fall backwards against the bench. "We can make our own destiny."

"My destiny was decided for me by Xemnas and DIZ from the first moment I opened my eyes. My whole life I've been lied to until I put a stop to it. I never even knew there was someone else out there like me. There are still things that I want to know, that I want to ask you."

"You can ask me anything Roxas."

Roxas didn't hesitate, the words coming from his mouth before he could even think about them. "Everyone at the Castle That Never Was knew how they died and how they were born. I can remember pieces of it. I can vaguely see Twilight Town and I know Xemnas found me. He gave me my name but it's so hazy. Is it the same for you? Do you remember how you were born?"

"Not really, like you said it's hazy. Marluxia found me. He said that I was shivering and that I was soaked with water. I don't remember any of it. There are flashes sometimes but that's all."

Roxas accepted her answer indifferently. "What about dreams?" He asked instead. "You know I've dreamed of Sora before. Have you ever dreamed of Kairi?" Roxas breathed in deeply, his voice thickening. "Can you tell me about her?"

Naminé sat up straighter on the bench, her eyes clouded, looking far away. "I don't think I have dreams like you do… I can vaguely see Destiny Islands and three kids leaning against a paopu tree "Naminé trailed off, biting her lip, swallowing hard. "But there is something more, deeper only I'm not sure if it's of Kairi or not. I have this dream where it's completely dark. I can feel something coming but I'm trapped inside my own body. I want so badly to move but no matter what I do, I can't. I try to say something but it's like my throat is fused together. "

Naminé paused for a moment, body tensing and eyes glistening, but eerily calm. "There's another where I'm drowning. The waves are crashing over my head. I fight to get to the surface only to keep getting pushed back under. Water starts to fill my lungs and then I'm pulled out by someone or something. I only know that I can breathe again."

"That doesn't sound like the best memory" Roxas said gravely.

"I'm sorry, I wish I could tell you more." 

"It's alright"

Naminé sighed, shifting her sketchbook in her lap and looking to be considering something before she spoke next. "Right after I was born everything was so new. I didn't know anything about right and wrong just what Marluxia told me. This might sound strange but I liked all of the white in my room." Naminé broke off into a nervous laugh before quickly schooling her features. "Even if sometimes I felt lost in it. White always represented to me an open canvas, a blank slate. You can create anything you want but it can also swallow you."

Roxas suppressed a shiver. "That's deep but it doesn't sound strange" He replied automatically.

Naminé tilted her head, blonde hair falling over her shoulder. "Was everything new for you too then?"

"No" Roxas said rigidly. "I was out of it for maybe the first day, then it was like I blinked my eyes and I was standing on my own. The others knew a lot of things I didn't and sometimes it was hard to keep up with them but it hardly mattered, fighting was the only important thing in that place. Fighting was like a reaction for me. It was effortless, familiar, and the keyblade always felt like it belonged in my hand. It was easy to kill the heartless, to summon keyblades, and surpass the others. I never understood why until I found out about Sora."

Naminé didn't reply and they both fell silent. There was barking in the distance as a large brown dog ran through a crowd of more white birds, sending them scattering into the sky. Naminé went back to studying the streets of Twilight Town, looking almost happy. Roxas felt a smile tugging at the corners of his lips and didn't want to risk speaking and distracting her. The early morning chill had disappeared and the sun was fully out, making Roxas feel oddly warm and content as if he could stay this way forever.

"It wasn't our fault" She said faintly, breaking Roxas out of his trance.

Roxas jerked his head toward her, not sure if he heard right. "What?"

Naminé wasn't even looking at him, staring straight ahead. ""I've been thinking a lot about that. Marluxia found me, Xemnas found you. The organization used me because of what I can do. I could give them what they wanted, the ability to control Sora. They wanted you because you are his other and you have the keyblades. There had to be so many things the organization could have accomplished with you maybe, even get to Sora…I'm not sure but I know it wasn't our fault. We were both used, manipulated, corrupted…we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Roxas had never thought of it that way before and he didn't know how to reply. He repeated what Naminé said in his mind, feeling as if a huge weight had been taken off his shoulders. She'd just given him a way out and he wanted so much to take it but knew he couldn't, knew it was only a half truth, would mean he wasn't responsible for anything when Roxas knew he was. He alone had committed mass destruction and silt Riku's throat. Maybe Naminé hated the violence but Roxas liked it, craved it even, there was something about holding Oathkeeper and Oblivion in his hands and swinging them with fatal accuracy.

In battle, there wasn't time to think and in that split second before Roxas slashed through a heartless he felt almost complete. For a moment Roxas wanted so badly to summon Oathkeeper and Oblivion, to feel the familiar weight in his hands, it had been so long, wanted to be back under the black and vacant sky with the icy rain on his face, locked in a never-racking battle for life and death. Roxas felt something jerk inside of him and his throat go dry. He forced the longing back and shrugged. "Sure, if that's how you want to look at it."

Naminé turned to him, her face blank but looking lost and complete at the same time. Roxas felt the urge to reach out to her again, if only to anchor himself but gritted his teeth and dug his fingers into the smooth wood of the bench instead.

"Its helped me to move on" Naminé said quietly. "Because of when I think of what I've put others through, of what I put Kairi though all I know is guilt, but there's no time for guilt. Its never solved anything, acting does. I've figured that out and Kairi's confirmed it for me…because I can feel her. She's stranded and lost but even through the pain she'll never give up hope. I know she's alive, and she's strong, and will keep fighting so I was wondering can you feel Sora?"

"Every second" Roxas said, his voice strained and slightly breathless.

Naminé's eyes brightened and she smiled, leaning towards him. "Sora's and Kairi's hearts are connected. They have a bond so strong nothing can break it and even though we don't have hearts we're still linked with Sora and Kairi. There's something between us and maybe because we're in contact with each other, it puts Sora and Kairi together too."

Roxas frowned, not completely understanding. "Where are you going with this?"

"There could be a way to reach Kairi" Naminé said eagerly.

"I still don't…how?"

"I'm not sure I do either but we both want to reach her and it feels like something we should try, something that could work just as long as we're together."

Somewhere Roxas felt the same and if there was a way to connect to Kairi, the redheaded girl that haunted him, he was instantly for it, just to feel her presence for himself, to know she was safe, and make the burring worry he felt in the back of his mind disappear. "Show me."

Naminé nodded, placing her hand on top of his. Roxas's arm jolted but he remained still and five months ago knew he would have pulled away but being with Hayner, Pence, and Olette made him more used to contact. Naminé's hand was light on top of his, their skin barely skimming but Roxas could feel a type of energy grow between them; heated, familiar, and powerful. He felt as if he could do anything, like everything he experienced came down to this one moment, all his abstract memories, what he felt with Naminé, the fleeting images of Kairi.

"Roxas" Naminé mouthed his name, closing her eyes and Roxas copied her, focusing on the link between them, on the heat flowing through his fingers, almost smiling because he liked this, a small sense of he and Naminé being together, making him feel whole, and he formed a clear picture of Kairi in his mind, surprised by how easy it was. Roxas knew she was out there, that he could find her, all he had to do was look, to keep going. That was when the steadily building flames that had been growing through their joined hands ignited.


	10. Remembrance part 2

Chapter 8: Remembrance Part 2

One moment Kairi had been sitting on the beach with Selphie, the next she felt something pulling at her mind. She bit back a cry, lifting her palm to her forehead, tightly shutting her eyes. When she opened them she was nowhere, it was the best way she could describe it. Kairi could see nothing except for white, it was endless, bright, blinding, and closed around her every inch of her like a thick mist. Her vision was blurred and she felt fuzzy as if she wasn't altogether there, yet she knew this wasn't a dream.

There was no sound or feeling in this place, everything was deadly still and Kairi felt her stomach lurch into her throat, feeling as if she was standing on air. She took a deep breath, clenching her hands together and steadying herself, walking unwaveringly forward. "Hello! Is anyone there!?" Her words echoed and come back to her, bouncing off non-existent walls.

"Kairi?" The redhead heard her name spoken in a voice that was barely there, soft and musical like a whispered breeze. Kairi ran toward it, knowing she needed to find whoever had said her name. She stumbled determinedly and blindly through the sea of white, not knowing which direction to go but it didn't matter, there was something from within her, guiding her. It wasn't long until she found a girl kneeled in the vast array of nothingness. Kairi forced herself to come to a stop, breathing hard.

The girl seemed as if she almost belonged here. She looked frail, skin pale, hair a muted shade of blonde, and she was wearing all white. Slowly, she stood and Kairi met her distant blue eyes, instantly feeling something between them, something that bounded them together and ran so deep Kairi couldn't see the end of it. An invisible thread was pulling her toward the girl and Kairi felt a piercing sense of familiarity even though she knew she'd never seen the blonde in her life.

Kairi felt whole standing in front of her when she didn't even realize she'd been so empty. The redhead was waiting for the boy to replace the whole in her heart but somehow this girl was able to fill a piece of it just from being near. Kairi could tell there was much more to her then at first glance, sensed something haunting, an ethereal aura that surrounded the blonde, secrets and answers to questions that ran behind her blue gaze that Kairi couldn't quite comprehend yet. Distantly, Kairi was reminded of her dream with Riku but without the fear, still it made her leery. "Who are you?"

"My name is Naminé" The girl said calmly. "And I'm you or at least a part of you."

Kairi frowned, blinking in confusion. "You're apart of me? How is that possible?"

Naminé shook her head. "That's not important right now."

"Then what is important?"

Naminé didn't answer right away, studying Kairi's face as if she was trying to remember, every line, every curve. "Kairi there's so much to tell you…and I've wanted…I've wanted so long to meet you." Naminé took a step forward, her expression almost desperate.

Kairi couldn't help it, she flinched but stood her ground.

There was a dejected look in Naminé's eyes but she didn't try to move closer. "Kairi I'm the reason why you or any of the others can't remember him. It's because of me you've gone through so much. I want you to know I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"The boy?" Kairi asked frantically "Are you talking about the boy?"

Naminé nodded slowly. "Yes"

"Then his name, can you tell me his name? I've tried so hard to remember it."

"Eventually it will come back to you but only when he is complete."

"Complete? How long will that take?"

"I'm not sure, so many things have happened and it's complicated but I can-"

Kairi hastily cut Naminé off, forming her hands into fists, knuckles turning white, tears of frustration forming in her eyes, her voice desperate, just on the verge of breaking. "Listen I don't care what happened or how you know him. None of that matters to me. I just want a name. Please just tell me his name!"

Naminé swallowed, moving forward again and Kairi watched her every step, expression unsure and guarded but not flinching again even when Naminé was standing directly in front of her, didn't move when the blonde lifted an arm, placing her opened palm on Kairi's shoulder.

It felt right somehow, the two of them together like this. Naminé breathed in sharply but it sounded more like a choked gasp and Kairi snapped her head forward, looking into Naminé's face, seeing her eyes shining with so many things the redhead couldn't identify but there was hope, pain, and strength even if the rest of her face was void, unmoving, and dead, making Kairi hold back a shiver. Naminé looked ready to fall, ready to break, as if she was created from a dream, destined for a cruel fate with nothing holding her together but her own will. It made Kairi wonder how much of her own life was missing, what was supposed to fill the blank spaces in her mind, how much had happened she hadn't been aware of, what the blonde in front of her had gone through. "Naminé…"

Naminé didn't answer but let her fingers curl gently around Kairi's shoulder. Kairi felt the tension leave her body, her hands becoming limp at her sides and raised an arm, covering Naminé's hand with her own. Naminé jerked, startled but smiled slightly and Kairi turned their hands, interlacing their fingers, suddenly not wanting the other to disappear and afraid she would. "I've been so lost for so long" Kairi whispered. "And you are too aren't you?"

Naminé shook her head. "No, I was once but I'm not now, not anymore and you don't have to be either because I can…I can give them back to you."

Kairi had no idea what Naminé was talking about but felt excitement run through her blood, her heart throb with cold anticipation. "Give what back?"

"You want his name" Naminé said softly. "But I can give you more then that. I can give you back your memories. It's not much but at least now you'll know who you're waiting for."

Kairi felt hot tears rush to her eyes and placed her free hand to her mouth. It was all she could do to keep standing, to not break down and cry until there was nothing left. She held back the sobs in her throat, forcing herself to speak. "It's everything."

The corners of Naminé's mouth twitched upward, offering Kairi one last smile. "I think that someday we'll meet in the real world."

Kairi didn't know how to reply, wanted to say something but Naminé had closed her eyes and turned her head away, body tensing in deep focus, mouthing something that Kairi was barely able to make out.

_His_

There was a warmth, a connection between their joined hands that flowed through Kairi, gentle and alluring but as much at it soothed her, it was sharp, like tiny shards of glass cutting into her soul and unlocking her mind but Kairi didn't pull away, only grasped Naminé's hand tighter. Everything started to fade, becoming blurred. Flashes of white light danced all around her, covered every inch of her skin. She closed her eyes but even then it flickered behind her eyelids, blinding and burning. Kairi wasn't sure if she was standing anymore, everything was falling, spinning until she was the only thing left. She couldn't even feel Naminé anymore. Memories played before her, voices, sounds, feelings that only laid half-forgotten and in the middle of it all there was a boy with blue eyes and spiky brown hair.

She'd been building a castle on the beach, seeing its foreboding and shadowy yet dazzling form in a dream. She spent nearly the whole day on it, trying to get every edge just right but the sand wouldn't stay how she wanted it to and the castle came out lopsided, not looking like anything from her dream. That was when she first met him. He saw the castle, seeming interested, helped her to finish it, even if all he did was scatter the sand further, ruining most of her hard work. She hadn't really cared, but he looked so sorry that she had to laugh. He smiled at her, took her hand, ran to introduce her to Riku and everyone else, had said he and Riku were board and heard about how she came to the island on the night of the meteor shower so they decided to seek her out but now he found her first. She was mysterious to him, someone new to play with.

They were friends ever since, hardly even apart. He was always there for her, laughing, caring, strong, adventurous, a little naive, and so many other things. She would never be able to voice them all. He showed her the island, made her feel as if she belonged, watched sunsets with her, dreamed with her, took her to the Secret Place, where they drew pictures on the walls of themselves sharing a paopu fruit, promising to stay together forever. She told him to never change.

_Name_

They built a raft to go to other worlds. He wanted to see them all, find her real home. To Kairi, Destiny Islands was home and would always be. It was where her friends were, her first memories, where she was happy but a part of her wanted to find what was out there, know her past, where she came from, and no matter what happened she knew they would always have Destiny Islands to come back to. Then the night before they set sail the storm came. She ran from her home and through the dark to the Secret Place, knowing for some reason she needed to get there, felt something calling her. Wind whipped through her hair, thunder crashed behind her, but she didn't so much as take a breath until she reached it.

She felt alone, lost, afraid, and stood before the locked door, not knowing where to turn, wishing he was beside her. Everything felt off, distorted like she was underwater and all she could do was stand in front of the door and wait for something, anything, the unknown, but he came for her like he always did, standing at the entrance, calling out to her. She answered him, saying his name but her body was heavy, her throat thick and it came out breathless and forced.

Then the locked door he, Riku, and herself had spent so many days trying to open flew outward. She was engulfed in wind, could feel a heavy pressure in her chest, realized she was losing her heart, gave it to him with her last thought, she trusted him with it, with her life, and now in a small way she would still be with him, wherever he went. Then there was nothing but darkness so thick she felt as she was suffocating in it. She couldn't scream, couldn't move, not even to blink, and it was endless but once again, he managed to find her, breaking through the darkness by stabbing himself through the heart, to restore hers', to call her back.

Is

She woke up to see him disappearing before her eyes in a wave of golden sparkles. She called his name and ran forward, arms outstretched to catch him. He vanished completely the second she made it to him, her hand passing through air. Everything happened so fast after that. She was in some cold and foreboding place she didn't recognize, didn't even know why she was there but his friends were there who she learned later to be Donald and Goofy and so was Riku, but they were all in danger and Riku was being held back by someone, something, screaming for them to run.

She followed Donald and Goofy, there wasn't any chance to look back. They were soon surrounded by heartless and that was when she found him, recognized him when no one else did even through the claws, deformed body, midnight skin, and vacant yellow eyes. She protected him, used her own body as a shield against the heartless, and brought him back from the darkness like he'd done for her. He had held her in his arms, thanked her. She was his light when everything else went out and he was hers'.

Later when everything had slowed down, when they were back at Traverse Town, and she had time to understand what was going on, he told her he needed to stop Ansem, to get Riku back. She'd wanted to stay with him because they were stronger together, always had been. If he had to defeat Ansem, she could help if only he'd give her chance but he only smiled nervously at her, laughing if off, and racked a hand through his hair. "You'd kind of be in my way Kairi."

So she told him she would always be with him and gave him her charm. It was the best thing she could do at the time. "Take this. It's my lucky charm. Be sure to bring it back to me."

He promised he would.

He'd won, restored Destiny Islands, but Riku was still gone, still in danger and so was Donald's and Goofy's king so his journey wasn't over yet. It felt like as soon they'd found each other he had to leave again but for him, there wasn't a choice and at the time it was impossible for her to stay with him. He had ran to her, taking her hand, as they stood on two separate worlds, told her he would always be with her too. His path led to adventure, new worlds, new friends, more enemies, more battles, and hers' led back home. She could have been happy to go back, she found out what she was, a princess of heart. She'd seen where came from, Hollow Bastion, even if it was falling apart at the time and it was only a brief glimpse, but still she saw it and for her that was enough, but to go back to Destiny Islands alone, without him was unimaginable, not after everything that had happened, not before she even had a chance to prove herself.

Their hands were tightly connected, her grip slipping as she was being pulled away and her arm straining from fighting to hold on, the space between them growing further and further apart and eventually she was forced to let go.

"I'll come back to you!" He called out in desperation.

Her reply echoed through her head. "I know you will!"

She watched as he still reached out to her, watched until he was out of sight and all around her Destiny Islands was coming back to itself, land reforming, palm trees springing up from the sand and the sky was dark but streaked with banners of purple and blue light and a wave of never ending stars. Everything was glowing, beautiful, and falling at the same time like snow set on fire. She opened her hands, letting the fragments of light fall onto her fingers, they were warm, wispy, hardly there. She'd closed her eyes and smiled.

He was the chosen one, the keyblade master, savior of the worlds, her friend, but his name… _His name is…_

"So-ra" Kairi mouthed, voicelessly through dry and slightly parted lips.

"Kairi! Kairi! Kairi!"

Kairi was lying on the sand, could feel Selphie's fingers digging into her upper arms from where the other girl was kneeled beside her, shaking her, voice panicked. "Kairi, please answer me!"

Kairi shot up nearly knocking their heads together, making Selphie fall backwards with a small shout of surprise. The redhead blinked placing a hand to her forehead, moving her hair away from her face, everything still feeling vaguely muddled. "Selphie?"

Selphie was back beside her in an instant, helping her to brush the sand from her shoulder. "Kairi are you okay? You just collapsed and I couldn't wake you up I was so afraid. I didn't know what to do."

Selphie was visibly shaking, biting her lower lip, looking as if she was on the verge of tears. Kairi shifted her eyes so she wasn't looking directly at Selphie's face, feeling her guilt return. "It's alright Selphie, I'm okay." She tried to say reassuringly.

Selphie used the back of her arm to wipe at her eyes. "Are-are you sure? "

"I'm sure."

Selphie leaned forward on her knees, peering at Kairi anxiously, as if judging for herself, before waving a hand in front of the redhead's eyes. "What happened? Are you feeling sick?"

"No…I'm fine I…" Kairi replied automatically as she batted Selphie's hand away but trailed off, as everything that had just happened came rushing back to her. She'd been trapped somewhere, inside her own mind, another reality, she wasn't sure but it had been real, as real as anything. Kairi could still feel her hands shaking, her stomach up in the air, and there had been a strange girl with long blonde hair and haunting eyes that she felt like she should know somehow but didn't. The girl had said her name was Naminé, had said that she was apart of her and Naminé had given her back her memories, told her the boy's name. _His name is…_

"Sora" Kairi whispered.

Selphie blinked. "What?"

Kairi eyes widened, pure joy rushing through her every nerve and she smiled genuinely, wanting to laugh, scream, and cry all at the same time. "Sora" She repeated more firmly.

Selphie frowned. "I'm not sure I'm following you."

Kairi didn't reply, her smile broadening as she launched herself at Selphie with a shriek, wrapping her arms around the other girl's shoulders and knocking them both into the sand.

Selphie awkwardly patted the redhead's back. "Kairi what?"

Kairi was already moving away, standing, and spreading her arms out, spinning on her heel. "That boy. The boy I've been waiting for his name is Sora."

"Sora" Selphie repeated, sitting up and looking as if she was thinking it over and then just shrugged.

"Sora, Sora, Sora" Kairi chanted, still spinning, now that she remembered the name wanting to say it almost endlessly. She wondered how she ever could have forgotten, all Sora had done to rescue her, everything they saw and went through together, all the times they'd spoken, played, explored, built sandcastles, drew pictures, she'd forgotten it all.

"And I remember" Kairi said tightly. "I remember everything" Kairi pointed out to sea. "Sora, Riku, and I used to swim out there. Sora and Riku always tried to see who could go out the furthest, and we would race in the sand, and lean against the paopu tree, and sometimes sleep out in the Secret Place, just the three of us. We were going to build a raft to see other worlds. It was Riku's idea but then the storm came, Destiny Islands disappeared and we were all separated…I lost my heart."

Kairi glanced at Selphie to see her friend looking at her oddly. Kairi didn't care much about what Selphie thought of all of this, was just glad to be telling it to someone, anyone, and quickly continued but soon found she couldn't stop herself. "And then there were a lot of things that happened, danger, keyblades, and fighting with Sora and Riku in the middle of it all. But Sora saved me, gave me back my heart and brought back Destiny Islands but he had to go look for Riku who is still out there but he promised he'd come back to me."

Selphie opened her mouth, then seemed to think better of it and closed it before opening it again, finally settling on "What's a keyblade?"

Kairi turned to Selphie, running a hand through her hair nervously. "Well…it's a giant key that Sora fights the heartless with which are these creatures that steal hearts but…anyway the keyblade can undo any lock and Sora can use it to open new worlds and seal them because he's the keyblade master."

"Okay…" Selphie said, scrunching her eyes in confusion. "You're really sure you're alright because I think maybe you hit your head when you fell."

"Hey! Wait!" Kairi shouted in building excitement, completely disregarding Selphie. "That's right! We saw other worlds. I found out where I came from."

"You did really?" Selphie asked, her confusion partially replaced with mild interest. Kairi was always somewhat of a mystery on the island, arriving on the night of the meteor shower and not knowing anything of her past and just about everyone had discussed where she actually came from at least at one point or another. "Where?"

"Hollow Bastion" Kairi said with a smile. "I'm a princess."

"You're a princess?" Selphie asked skeptically.

"Or it's more like I'm a princess of heart and there's seven of us all together and we were all used in this plot to open Kingdom Hearts which is what everyone's basically after since Kingdome Hearts is like the ultimate power and it's the source of almost everything including all hearts, worlds, and the heatless so Sora had to…" Kairi trailed off when she realized she'd lost Selphie again and the other girl was staring blankly up at her. "You know I think that's enough of the story for now."

"Hang on" Selphie said as she held up a hand. "Let me get this straight. Riku and Sora or whatever his name is, are in other worlds and Sora is out looking for him and because he's the keyblade master he opens new worlds to fight these creature things called heartless, using a giant key so he can get to Kingdom Hearts and get ultimate power, which he needs you to get to in the first place since you're a princess of heart but you lost your heart so technically you should be dead. Although, Sora rescued you and somehow you magically got back here to Destiny Islands which according to you disappeared but…wait Sora restored that too." Selphie finished panting slightly.

"Umm…no not quite…" Kairi said, shifting a foot through the sand, her eyes shinning with distant humor. "But it's a start!"

Selphie let her shoulders slump and groaned. "I'm so lost…that really sounds like…" Selphie paused, trying to find the right words but came up empty. "Some adventure" She drawled.

"And it all happened."

Selphie clutched her shoulders, hunching forward, breaking out into giggles. "Someone's been daydreaming again."

"I'm serious" Kairi shot back defensively.

Selphie only laughed harder, looking up through half lidded eyes. "Right…Where do you come up with this stuff?"

Kairi lifted a hand to her mouth, stifling her own laughter as she collapsed back on the sand beside Selphie somewhat winded. "It really doesn't matter much. Does it? Since you don't believe me."

"Whatever you say princess."

Kairi snorted, leaning back on her elbows, meeting Selphie's eyes. "Seriously, though the name Sora doesn't sound familiar to you at all?"

Selphie shrugged, looking vaguely apologetic. "Sorry Kairi, it doesn't ring any bells."

"That's okay."

"But I'm glad you remembered his name" Selphie said cheerfully, shifting so she was sitting cross legged and letting her hands fall into her lap. "And hey if he promised to come back to you then he has to right?"

"I thought you didn't believe me."

"Maybe I believe some parts."

Kairi gave Selphie a half amused and half serious look and nodded solemnly. "We'll see each other again."

The two girls lapsed back into easy silence before Selphie lifted the back of her hand to her forehead and moaned. "Oh man jeez I forgot."

"What's wrong?" Kairi asked, slightly concerned.

"Nothing really, I was just supposed to be making this banner for the blitzball game and I just remember it. I've barely even started on it yet but you know me. I can be such an airhead sometimes."

"Oh"

Selphie picked herself up, straightening her dress. "I'm sorry Kairi but I really need to go."

Kairi sat up fully, her elbow digging into her leg as she rested her chin in the palm of her hand, staring at the swelling waves. "Alright."

"You gonna be okay?"

Kairi turned her head, meeting Selphie's downcast expression and forced a smile. "Selphie it's alright really, go ahead. I'll be fine."

"O-okay then" Selphie said as she turned to leave a bit hesitantly. "I'll see you around right?"

"Sure."

Selphie only took a couple of steps before she paused and glanced back over at Kairi. "Are you sure you don't want to go?"

"What?"

"To the blitzball game I mean. Are you sure you don't want to go?"

Kairi studied Selphie, the brown haired girl had clasped her hands behind her back and was leaning forward slightly, smiling expectantly, her eyes a mixture of hope and worry, sparkling with life. Selphie was her friend, always had been and Kairi had been distancing herself from her, from everyone and for the first time Kairi felt as if she was missing something. There were so many little things she didn't know about her friend's lives, so much time she could have spent with them but didn't. For so long, seeing Sora again was really the only thing that mattered to her but without Sora, without the keyblade master, they were all at great risk on this island. The darkness would come, it was even written in the sky and Kairi could sense it like a bomb waiting to go off.

Kairi didn't know how much longer she would have left with Selphie, Wakka, and Tidus, how many days until everything crashed, until it was too late. Selphie's figure suddenly became blurred in front of her as if sweltering with heat. Then flames appeared, growing rapidly, dancing around Selphie's head, scorching her skin, burning through her eyes. Kairi was reminded of paper, of a picture, the corners curling into themselves, shriveling with a low whine until there was nothing left but black ashes.

"Kairi?"

Kairi jolted, instantly coming out of her trance, shaking the image away. She'd just seen something, a vision, a premonition maybe. "Huh?"

Selphie sighed and crossed her arms. "There you go zoning out again. Hello, blitzball game?"

"I'll go with you Selphie." Kairi replied without thinking.

"Oh well…Maybe you can come to the next…" Selphie stopped short and smiled widely. "Hey wait a minute you just said yes!"

Kairi nodded

Selphie made a sound between a squeal and a shriek and raced over toward Kairi, grabbing her forearms and pulling her to her feet. "Oh wow Kairi you won't regret it. We're going to have so much fun!" Selphie was on her toes, nearly jumping off her feet, spinning them around in a circle.

"Okay, okay," Kairi said with a small laugh as she pulled out of her friend's over energetic grip. "Calm down it's just a blitzball game." Kairi paused then added. "At school."

"But you're going to be there!" Selphie said eagerly. "And it's not just some school event it's for the championship. Tidus and Wakka will be so glad you're there. I can't wait to see their faces! Oh and just wait until you see Tidus play."

"Wow Selphie if I only knew this is all it took to make you happy I-"

"Aww don't worry about it." Selphie said quickly, cutting Kairi off with a wave of her arm. "And we have to be there really early tonight because it's going to be really crowded and we want to make sure we get good seats."

"How early?" Kairi asked nervously.

"Ummm, I don't know lets say we meet in front of the stadium at six."

"Six? Isn't that an hour before the thing actually starts?"

"Yeah, but like I said it's going to be really crowded so we'll be glad we went early and how are Tidus and Wakka going to see us if we end up sitting in back?"

Kairi wanted to point out that Tidus and Wakka would probably be more focused on the game then on them but she didn't think that would have much of an impact on Selphie. "Okay" Kairi said weakly instead. "Six it is."

"And you can't back out" Selphie mock glared. "You said you'd come so you have to be there."

"I promise I'll be there" Kairi replied definitely. "Six in front of the stadium. Got it."

Selphie pursed her lips, seeming to think it over for a moment before looking satisfied. "Alright, I'll see you then" She said brightly, before running down the shoreline. "But I really do have stuff to do." Selphie called from over her shoulder, then stopped and waved. "Don't forget!"

"I won't" Kairi shouted back.

Selphie nodded, taking off at a run again and Kairi watched until she was out of sight.

Kairi sighed, looking back out to sea. She'd just gotten her life back, her memories, She'd just gotten Sora back. She had renewed hope, a reason to keep moving forward and she felt happier then what she knew was possible. Kairi glanced up to the sky, thinking of Sora. She could picture him clearly, the haze completely gone, could see him and herself playing in the surf, splashing each other and she blinked back the sudden hot tears that threatened to spill from her eyes.

Then the icy horror ran through her whole body as her vision of Selphie burning came back to her, playing through her mind like a picture show and Kairi felt both fear and determination roll inside of her, her doubt from earlier completely gone and Kairi knew whatever happened now she'd face, would survive, because she had little choice and Sora was with her again just like he promised he'd always be, his memory once more safe inside her heart.

Kairi had Naminé to thank for that, the cause of her memories being taken, of them being restored. Kairi felt a longing in her heart as soon as Naminé's name entered her mind and the strange and abrupt desire to see her. Kairi closed her eyes, finding that if she concentrated she could nearly feel Naminé's presence, hear her soft voice. Kairi glanced up at the fractured sky, the building storm. "I think you're right Naminé" She whispered longingly. "Maybe someday we will meet in the real world."

0o0o0o0

Roxas opened his eyes in sync with Naminé's, blinking hazily still feeling her hand on top of his. They stared at each other without moving, neither one wanting to break the silent understanding, the twisting bond flowing between them. Roxas swallowed heavily. "What was that?"

Naminé smiled softly. "I think we just found Kairi."

"She really is okay then" Roxas confirmed with faint relief.

"She's okay."

Roxas flexed his hand uncomfortably underneath Naminé's but didn't try to take it back. "But, what happened? I still don't…understand."

"Maybe it's not important if we understand or not. We found her right? That's what matters."

"I guess…" Roxas agreed reluctantly but he still wanted more of an explanation and it crossed his mind that DIZ probably would have had a ready one so there had to be more Naminé could tell him. "How did you know?"

"I didn't. I just knew I needed too, like I could feel something telling me what would happen and since you were with me, the opportunity was there. I couldn't pass it up."

"Because of what you said right?" Roxas questioned neutrally. "Sora's and Kairi's hearts are connected?"

"That's part of it." Naminé looked downward toward the bench and Roxas had a feeling she was choosing her next words carefully. Naminé breathed in deeply before staring back up at him. "And I wanted it so badly because I don't like seeing you in pain like that so I knew I had to make it work." She stiffened expectantly. "Do you feel better that we found her?"

Roxas did, now that he allowed himself to think about it, now that along with Naminé he'd felt Kairi's presence for himself. The irritation and worry from earlier was gone and he felt lighter somehow like part of a shadowy fog had been lifted. "Yeah."

Naminé's eyes visibly brightened. "I'm glad."

Roxas leaned forward, his hand shifting until he could feel the tips of Naminé's fingers against his wrist. "Thanks." He whispered.

Naminé made no attempt to move away and locked her eyes with his. "Of course Roxas, I'd do anything to help you."

Roxas scowled, feeling his natural defensiveness return, instantly searching for an alternative motive to Naminé's words. There should be no reason why Naminé wanted to help him, or to even speak to him. He'd done nothing for her, expect to push her away "Why?" He snapped. "You don't even know me."

"I know enough." Naminé replied unshakably.

"Which is?"

"You're you."

Roxas felt his doubt immediately fade. That was something he'd always wanted to hear. _You're you not Sora. _Roxas didn't reply, didn't know what to say or how to even express what that meant to him but soon realized he didn't need too, since Naminé seemed to sense it and he could see the faint rise of her lips, her hand very slightly tightening on his. They were close but he wanted to move closer, just glad she was there.

"Hey Roxas!"

Naminé and Roxas quickly jerked apart at the sound of Hayner's voice. Roxas picked his head up, surprised he hadn't even heard his friend approach and seeing Hayner was only standing a few feet in front of them with his arms crossed.

"Hi" Roxas greeted.

Hayner didn't answer, his eyes on Naminé before he turned his head toward Roxas and grinned. "Who's the girl?"

"Right ummm" Roxas said, seeming lost, glancing toward Naminé . "This is…Naminé, isn't that what you said your name was?"

"It's Naminé" The blonde stated without emotion, looking away from both of them and Roxas wasn't sure if it was because she probably hadn't had much contact with others over the last few months or because he was suddenly acting like he just met her which really wasn't that far from the truth.

Hayner focused his attention back on Naminé, pointing a finger at Roxas. "Hi Naminé. I'm Hayner, this guy's friend."

Roxas decided Naminé wasn't nervous when she smiled evenly up at Hayner. "It's nice to meet you."

"Same here" Hayner replied, a little over friendly. "I don't think I've ever seen you around before."

"She's not from Twilight Town." Roxas cut in quickly.

"Really?" Hayner asked curiously, raising an eyebrow. "Where are you from?"

Naminé lifted a finger to her lips in thought. "Far away" She answered after a moment "You probably wouldn't know of it."

Roxas was trying to come up with another answer in case, Hayner decided to press the issue but luckily, Hayner just seemed to lose interest. "Sure, fine" He shrugged, "Anyway Roxas, I was board and you weren't at home so I was passing through and saw you over here and thought I'd ask if you wanted to go hit the arcade or something…but since I see you're busy I'll catch you later tonight for the movie." Hayner started to walk away, waving a hand dismissively, grin broadening. "Unless you decide not to show up, then I'll completely understand and I'll let Pence and Olette know. So see ya."

"No, wait!" Roxas called.

Hayner craned his neck around. "What is it?"

"It's not like that! You don't need to leave, Naminé and I just met a little while ago and started talking but she's only going to be in Twilight Town for the day and she can only stay here a few minutes because she's visiting her sick…" Roxas trailed off, looking at Naminé for help, silently pleading for her to go along with it.

"Cousin" Naminé said at the same time Roxas said "Aunt."

Hayner blinked. "What?"

"My cousin's aunt" Naminé confirmed.

"Of course your cousin's aunt. Why didn't I think of that?" Hayner replied sarcastically. "So Naminé, I've been in Twilight Town all my life anyone I would know of?"

Naminé shook her head, trying to think of an unfamiliar name. "No, you wouldn't know…Aerith-"

"Larxene!"

Hayner didn't look like he knew if he wanted to laugh or just stare in confusion. "You two have got to stop doing that…wait who?"

"Aerith Larxene." Naminé supplied happily, as Roxas placed a hand to his forehead, shutting his eyes in frustration.

"That's-" Hayner started to say.

"It's not her real name." Naminé interjected, face serious but her voice brimming with fake sadness. "You see it's very tragic, she has multiple personality disorder. The family likes to keep her a secret."

Roxas nearly choked on his laughter, instead settling on coughing to cover it up. "Right" Roxas forced out in between breaths. "Isn't that what you told me Naminé? One moment she wants to bake you cookies and next she's talking to her own personal collection of knives?"

"That sounds dangerous…" Hayner said dryly.

Naminé nodded, tapping the side of her head. "Yes, she's a little insane."

Roxas continued to cough.

Hayner gave his friend an odd look. "Roxas are you okay?"

"Fine!"

Naminé lost her straight face, breaking out into laughter and Roxas soon followed her.

Hayner scowled, obliviously realizing he was left out on the joke. "Something tells me I don't even want to know."

Roxas picked his head up. "You're probably right." Then motioned to Naminé. "Hayner can you give me a minute and I'll catch up with you okay?"

"Sure, I'll be waiting over there." Hayner pointed to some random shop a fair distance away. "Let me know when you two figure out whatever it is and you don't have to rush because of me or anything." While leaving he smirked at Roxas over his shoulder. "Take your time and maybe I'll see you again Naminé."

"Alright, maybe."

All traces of laughter were gone as soon as Hayner was out of earshot, Naminé speaking instantly. "You don't want me around your friends, you don't want them to know about me" She didn't sound hurt at all only interested.

Roxas uncomfortably brought his foot up on the bench, resting an arm on his knee. "It's not that but if they see us together or get to know you then they'll start asking questions and I don't want to lie to them more then I already have."

"Like we just did?"

"That doesn't count since no one would actually believe it."

"But there's something more, isn't there? Another reason why besides the lying."

Roxas sighed, it was true and he couldn't deny that especially from Naminé. "There's more."

Naminé waited because it looked liked Roxas was about to say something else but she soon realized he wasn't going to and she didn't try to question him further. "Hayner seems nice. What you have with your friends is something I've always wanted but I've never been able to keep for long. I used to imagine what it would be like all the time." Naminé looked wistfully in front of her without seeing anything. "I'm happy for you. It must be nice."

"It is" Roxas answered but there wasn't anything behind the words.

Naminé tilted her head, searching Roxas's face, not understanding why he was suddenly being so distant from her. "I feel like I've done something wrong."

"You haven't."

"Then what is it?"

Roxas stood up from the bench. "Nothing, I have to leave."

"Roxas I didn't mean to intrude on anything." Naminé folded her arms tightly over her sketchbook, eyes desperate but her face and voice empty "I'm-I'm sorry."

Roxas turned his back to her, not sure, if he could look at her any longer, his fingers trailing over the seat of the bench until his hand traveled up the black metal armrest, gripping it tightly. He felt the fractured feeling of remorse rise in his stomach, knowing mostly Naminé shouldn't have been the one apologizing. "I already said it's not you."

"Alright" Naminé said quietly. "But just know the time, the time you have left with your friends, hang on to it while you can."

"I intend too," Roxas snapped out of what Naminé had just implied and his own tension, spinning to face her.

Naminé didn't move, waiting. Her calm reaction, making Roxas feel drained, his face turning expressionless and his eyes dulling when he met Naminé's shallow blue, his voice softening. "There's something I need to tell you first, why I sent Hayner ahead, the other reason why."

"You can tell me."

"It's hard to say. I don't even know if I want too."

Naminé continued to look at him but Roxas remained stonily silent and Naminé decided to break it. "Roxas-"

"Naminé."

Just like that, everything between them was fine again, lighter somehow and Naminé had to bite her lip to stifle a giggle. Roxas just snorted. "Hayner's right we've really got to stop doing that." Then added offhandedly. "You go first."

"Umm alright." Naminé said, appearing vaguely startled and nervous. "I really like spending time with you and I was hoping that maybe we could do it again sometime."

Roxas's face changed to indifference almost distant anger and he closed his eyes. "I should have gone first" He reopened his eyes, his hand curling tighter around the armrest. "The other reason, when I'm around you I start to feel things, remember things that I don't want to think about. It's like you bring everything back before what I am now, before I was Roxas and I want to stay as far away from that as possible, so it's not really you but I don't think we should speak to each other again for awhile."

Naminé looked back out in front of her. "I thought it would be something like that."

"I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine." Naminé said hastily and emotionlessly, clutching her hands together in her lap and leaning forward, hair tumbling across her cheeks. "It's fine." She repeated as if trying to convince herself. "I understand, I really do. It was a bad idea anyway. I'll be fine."

Roxas nodded, turned away again, about to leave but glanced back. Naminé looked so small, alone, lost and he knew he needed to say something to her. "You don't need me."

Naminé jerked her head up, eyes distant but completely focused on Roxas as he walked back over to her almost eagerly, kneeling before her so they were eye level, hesitantly moving a hand to cover her wrist. "You never did."

"Life" Roxas continued assuredly. "I used to think it was just something endless and void, that was draining and could swallow you whole but then I broke free from the organization, made my own path, met Hayner, Pence, and Olette, and I realized it's not so bad. For the first time I feel like I could actually have a future and maybe next year if I'm still here I could even try that school thing Olette's been bugging me about."

"In other words." Naminé said amusedly, uncurling her hands from her lap. "You're telling me to get out more."

"That's the thing you have to be willing to go for it, to take the risk even if it means having the organization out for your blood but it's better then the alternative of never knowing, you have to be willing to fight for it, search for it. I've learned that. You told me yourself, to solve something you need to act."

Then Roxas smiled at her, really smiled and it wasn't lost on Naminé how his entire face lit up, how his eyes seemed to glow and Naminé had to wonder if anyone else had been the recipient of it. Even if Roxas told her, he didn't want to speak for a while with after what he just said Naminé felt oddly happy and she couldn't help smiling back. "Alright, I'll get out more if you smile more."

Roxas bit back a laugh, moving his hand from her wrist and tapping his knuckles against her knee. "In the famous words of Luxord, it's a deal."

Naminé leaned her head towards his, eyes shinning, smiling softly. "I'll see you later then."

"Until that time." Roxas agreed, moving away from her, standing up, and walking toward the shop Hayner had pointed out, wanting to put as much distance away from himself and Naminé as he could before he had the chance to turn back. It was all he wanted to do, turn back to her but he kept his eyes focused ahead, knew if he saw her sitting alone once more he might follow through with it and Naminé's presence alone was a threat to his life here, he couldn't risk it, couldn't risk her.

He pushed her from his mind, it was harder then he expected, harder to walk away. He never had problems with it before and didn't understand why it should be any different now but with Naminé it was. Roxas nearly gritted his teeth at the realization, making him walk faster, feeling as if he failed at something. He wasn't one to allow emotion to get in the way of anything, it was usually easy when he wasn't supposed to have it in the first place and he told himself he was only feeling shaky because of his dream earlier and finding out about Kairi, nothing more.

Roxas soon found Hayner, his friend's hand pressed to the shop window, staring at a green lava lamp.

"So let's go" Roxas said coolly, stalking past Hayner.

"Huh?" Hayner jolted, startled and then on seeing Roxas quickly raced to catch up with him so they were walking nearly shoulder to shoulder. "Oh right." He grinned, turning on his heel so he was walking backwards and Roxas assumed he was eyeing Naminé. "Cute girl, wait until I tell Olette about this."

"No, don't," Roxas groaned. "Or I'll never hear the end of it."

"Relax, I wasn't really going too, anyway did you get her number?"

Roxas narrowed his eyes slightly in annoyance. "Somehow I don't think that would do much good."

"Why not?"

"She's only in Twilight Town for the day remember? Besides she doesn't have a phone."

"How do you know?"

"I asked."

"I think you're passing up on something, you two looked really close when I walked up on you." Hayner leered, lowering his voice. "She probably likes you."

Roxas sighed, joining Hayner in walking backwards, seeing if he could still see Naminé. It was hard since she'd grown distant and other people kept getting in the way but he could just make her out, hunched over her sketchbook, scribbling something down. "That doesn't make any difference."

Hayner shrugged. "Well you could have stayed with her or asked her to come hang out with us. You didn't have to ditch her like that."

"She had things to do." Roxas said, turning around.

"Right" Hayner rolled his eyes, sliding his hands into his pockets, shifting to walk frontward with Roxas. "The sick aunt's cousin or whatever."

"You're just girl crazy." Roxas replied, trying to focus Hayner's attention away from Naminé.

"I'm fifteen," Hayner said as if he'd just solved everything in the world, then after a quick pause added. "Over half way to sixteen. What do you expect? You're just antisocial."

"Which makes you hypocritical." Roxas countered easily.

Hayner chuckled, about to reply when he heard someone running, shouting at them. "Hey kid! Wait up!"

Hayner and Roxas paused glancing behind them, seeing a lanky man with his arm raised, trying to maneuver his way through a maze of shops and people. He reached them shortly, nearly doubling over, placing his hands on his knees, breathing hard. "Good" He wheezed. "For a minute there I didn't think I'd catch you in time."

Hayner looked completely dumbfounded but with vague amusement, Roxas noticed it was the ice cream man from earlier. "You gave me too much munny." The man blurted, taking out several coins, handing them to Roxas before the blonde had a chance to say anything. "1,000 to be exact."

"Wait I-"

The man laughed good naturedly, clapping Roxas on the back. "Can't have one of my most valued customers, getting away with that."

Roxas gave up, not that he really cared. "Thanks."

"No problem, just glad I realized it and caught you but I really do have to be getting back to my store." He headed away giving a parting wave to Roxas. "Make sure to double check your munny next time!"

With the man soon out of sight, Hayner lost his stunned look, rounding on Roxas. "What was that about?"

"The ice cream guy." Roxas replied blankly. "I bought some sea salt ice cream earlier."

"How the heck do you give the ice cream guy 1,000 munny?!"

"But I didn't I-" Roxas quickly scanned the area behind him, squinting to where Naminé had been, finding the bench completely empty.

Hayner followed Roxas's line of sight. "Hey, that girl's gone."

"Yeah, she does that."

"Does what? Disappears randomly?"

"Something like that." Roxas said smoothly with a smile in his voice, one thing he did have to admit was Naminé could be unpredictable.

"Huh, weird."

Roxas ignored Hayner, taking out his munny bag and adding the coins, before starting to walk forward again, repeatedly tossing it high into the air. "It's not 10,000 but I'm not complaining."

"You shouldn't" Hayner murmured, following Roxas, taking longer strides to catch up, his eyes on the munny bag. "Would you stop?"

"Stop what?"

"Tossing that thing in the air, I know you probably have a gold mine in there and you're going to drop something. It's making me nervous."

Without pausing Roxas tossed it even higher so it was barely visible, angling it so as it fell back down the string caught on his thumb without him having to move his hand and the munny bag rolled neatly into his palm. "Like that?"

Hayner was used to Roxas doing these kinds of things by now and remained unimpressed. "That's not possible."

"I just did it."

"I don't care it's still not possible." Hayner said dryly.

Roxas put his munny bag away unconcerned. "So you still want to go to the arcade?"

"Sure, I don't care, either the arcade, the mall, or go gang up Seifer, which reminds me I still have a score to settle with him in air-hockey."

It was strange but after Roxas had beaten up Seifer, he and his gang had became a lot more tolerable, not showing up for a few weeks after the incident but when they did, Seifer had acted like nothing had ever happened, even jokingly referring to Roxas as 'killer'. Seifer, Fuu, and Rai still walked around liked they owned the place and they were all still bitter rivals but it was more of a friendly rivalry now.

"I say we go to the mall," Roxas said after awhile. "There's a music store that just opened up I want to check out. Then we can go to the arcade and make fun of everyone playing DDR."

"Sounds like a plan." Hayner agreed, then his eyes narrowed, giving Roxas a suspicious glance. "Wait this isn't going to be another one of those times where you completely collapse the store displays is it?"

"Well I wasn't planning on it but who knows."

"I'm not helping." Hayner said definitely.

"You never help anyway all you do is laugh like some kind of manic, Pence cheers me on, and Olette tries to escape the line of fire."

"Right that one guy's face was…" Hayner snickered, before catching himself. "Never mind, how many stores have you gotten us banned from anyway? Like thirteen?"

"Right, thirteen" Roxas answered. "But I can't leave it there, it has to be at least fourteen."

"Why?"

"I don't like thirteen."

Hayner snorted but didn't argue, instead resolving not to say anything, knowing on matter what he said, he doubted he could make his friend change his mind. Roxas had his own twisted sense of logic and those types of answers were normal for him.

"I'll race you there." Roxas said, seeing Hayner wasn't going to respond.

"I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"Because you'll just win." Hayner replied absently. "You win at everything. Why do you want to race anyway?"

"I don't know I just feel like running, come on I'll even give you a seven minute head start."

"Seven minutes? The mall's a ten-minute walk from here at most." Hayner shook his head in disbelief. "You really don't have much faith in me. Do you?"

"No, not really."

Hayner crossed his arms. "I don't think so Roxy."

Roxas put a hand on his friend's shoulder, forcing them both to come to a stop. Hayner automatically turned his head toward Roxas and Roxas schooled his features but glared dangerously. "You did not just call me Roxy. Say it again and die."

"Why so defensive?" Hayner asked with a grin, ducking out of his friend's grip and distancing himself by a few feet. "I bet that's what little blonde Naminé calls you. That sea salt ice cream you bought was so obviously for her. I wouldn't even be surprised if the munny the ice cream man said you left was a cover up, you probably bought a whole tub of it for late…at night..."

Roxas scrunched his nose in disgust. "That's sick."

"I can hear it now." Hayner continued, raising his voice unnaturally high, so it hitched painfully. "Oh Roxy Roxy _Roxy_!"

Roxas scowled, threateningly advancing on Hayner. "And you die."

"Hey, chill out" Hayner shot back defensively, taking a step back. "It was just revenge for saying you don't have much faith in me. Besides if you'll remember, I get a head start."

Roxas's lips rose into a half smile, his eyes shinning dangerously. "Changed my mind."

Hayner gave Roxas a weary look before it changed to one of underhanded confidence and he sprinted forward. "Fine, just try and keep up!"

Roxas chased after Hayner, right on his heels, people quickly moving out of their path in fear of getting run over, the two of them laughing the whole way, all thoughts of the organization, dreams, falling worlds, Naminé, Kairi, and Sora vanishing away. In the moment, Roxas was just having fun with his friend, talking about girls, acting fifteen, and it was enough.

0o0o0o0

Kairi had thought Selphie was exaggerating about how crowded it would be at the blitzball game but she hadn't been and even though Kairi was an hour early just like she promised, the dome like stadium was packed, large metal bleachers nearly filled. It was strange seeing it this way when she was used to seeing it so empty. Like everyone, Kairi had heard rumors and stories about Tidus but she never really paid any attention to them. She found herself wondering if Tidus really was just that good or if this was just because of the championship. Kairi had a hard time picturing the gangly boy she'd know for years and watched play fight could draw this much attention.

Kairi wished she and Selphie would have been more specific with deciding a place to meet because all she'd been doing for the last twenty or so minutes was standing in front of the stadium, scanning the crowd for Selphie and seeing no trace of her. Kairi was about to give up and find a seat when she heard Selphie's all too familiar shriek. "Kairi!"

"Over here!" Kairi waved her entire arm, shouting over the noise of the crowd.

Kairi watched as Selphie ran towards her, reaching her in just a few seconds, and throwing her arms around the redhead's neck, causing Kairi to lose her footing for a moment. "You came!"

"Of course I came." Kairi said, trying to pry herself out of Selphie's vice like grip. "I said I would."

"But now you're actually here!" Selphie squealed, letting go of Kairi but linking their arms together. "Come on I found Tidus and Wakka. They have to see you before the game."

Kairi let Selphie lead her to somewhere just aside of the stadium, past the crowd, the redhead's eyes running over various people and several kids she knew she'd never seen before, chatting and waiting in the bleachers. "This crowd seems a little excessive don't you think?" Seeing Selphie was about to say something, Kairi quickly added. "And I know it's for the championship but still it's just one blitzball game. I really don't get it."

"It's because of Tidus." Selphie exhaled happily. "And besides that blitzball's romantic."

"Romantic?" Kairi repeated doubtfully but not really surprised by Selphie's answer, her friend finding something cute or romantic with just about everything that moved. "How can blitzball be romantic?"

"Just think," Selphie, continued distractedly, expression far away. "One man and one blitzball surrounded by water and thousands of cheering fans and his true love, sitting in wait on the bleachers. Only she doesn't know he loves her yet."

"Selphie."

"So he has to dive into the water's dark murky depths to prove himself by swimming with the dolphins and finding the largest pearl on the islands."

"Selphie."

"It's really to bad his true love is already seeing his best friend but that won't last for long because they were destined to be together and-"

"Selphie!"

"What?"

Kairi smiled faintly. "You've gotten into the romance novels again, haven't you?"

"Mayyyyybeeeeeee" Selphie then cut herself short, her face brightening, and her arm sliding from Kairi's to latch around the redhead's wrist. "Look! There they are!"

The next thing Kairi knew was that she was being pulled behind Selphie and they were running underneath and toward the back of one of the few outside bleachers, coming to a small secluded area obscured by palm trees and some wispy strands of grass, poking out from underneath the sand, plus the sun was setting, making Wakka and Tidus barely visible. Tidus was leaning back on his heels, looking comfortable, a blitzball in the crook of his arm, talking quietly to Wakka.

"Hi guys!" Selphie shouted.

Wakka and Tidus both jumped, twisting around and tensing but relaxing again once they saw it is was only Selphie.

"Selphie, don't do that." Tidus hissed, looking around nervously. "Did anyone see you?"

"Of course not. Stop being so antsy." Selphie said carelessly. "But moving on guess who I brought with me!"

Wakka's and Tidus's eyes traveled to the form that Selphie was enthusiastically shielding behind her back but not coming up with anything, they looked blankly back to the brown haired girl. "Ahhh…" Wakka started to say.

"Give up?" Selphie asked, pushing Kairi out in front of her. "It's Kairi!"

Selphie swayed on her feet, hands clasped behind her back, waiting for a reaction but the other three didn't move, staring speechless and Kairi took the time to study Wakka and Tidus. They looked different to her, small changes she hadn't noticed before. Wakka had his shirt off, his skin deeply tanned, a lot more muscular then she remembered. Tidus was paler, blonde hair falling in front of his blue-green eyes, and wearing so many belts and buckles Kairi wasn't sure, how he was able to put them all on. It wasn't like she was unused to seeing them, they all sat together in school, passed each other in the halls, even if it was like Selphie said, her mind was always someplace else but still Kairi wonder why this was the first time she ever noticed.

Wakka was the first to break the silence, his stunned expression melting into a wide grin until Kairi could see both rows of his wide flat teeth. "Glad you could make it Kairi ya."

Tidus seemed a lot less thrilled, his eyes narrowing in cold disinterest. "Hi Kairi" He said neutrally. "Great of you to drag yourself away from the island."

Kairi could hear the accusation in his words. _You were never there _and it stung but neither Selphie or Wakka seemed to notice and Kairi didn't allow anything to reach her face. "Hi Wakka, hi Tidus. It's good to be here."

Wakka rested an elbow on Tidus's shoulder. "You're in for a treat Kairi. We're going to beat them real bad, Tidus ya?"

"Of course we are." Tidus said heatedly, pushing Wakka away from him. "We never lose."

"But Kairi's here." Selphie protested. "So it makes it special."

Wakka cracked his knuckles out in front of him with a professional air. "Right we can show her some of those new moves we've been working on ya."

Tidus shrugged. "Sure Wakka."

_New moves_, Kairi repeated in her mind, noticing where they were standing, hidden and away from everyone which wasn't exactly normal with a big game just around the corner. "Hey, shouldn't you guys be with your team or something?"

Selphie bit her tongue, holding back laughter, her shoulders shaking with the effort. "Tidus is afraid of crowds."

"I'm not afraid of crowds."

"Then tell Kairi what you're doing over here, o' brave one."

"Hiding from the mob." Tidus replied tentatively.

Selphie wagged her eyebrows. "You mean all your adoring fans."

"But won't your coach get worried?" Kairi said swiftly, before Tidus and Selphie could go on any further.

"We'll head out in a little bit." Tidus resolved but he wasn't looking at Kairi, his head turned to the side focused on everyone piled inside the stadium. "I'm just waiting until the coast is clear."

Wakka chuckled. "And give coach another aneurism in the process ya."

Tidus tossed his blitzball up in the air, catching it one handed, spinning it on his finger, and Kairi swore it stayed on a whole minute. "He'll survive."

"Guys in case you haven't noticed." Selphie chided, "More people are coming not leaving."

"I know that Selphie." Tidus said dully.

"Then" Selphie offered helpfully. "I think your best bet it to make a run for it."

Wakka stroked his chin, looking to think it over. "Probably right ya."

Tidus tucked his blitzball under his arm, unworried, heading out from behind the bleachers. "Fine we're out of here."

"Okay" Selphie waved gleefully. "We'll try to sit in the front row and we'll be cheering for you. Oh! And my banner is hanging up somewhere on the inside too."

"We'll keep an eye out ya." Wakka said, walking past Tidus.

"Good luck." Kairi called, not sure what to say but wanting to say at least something before they left.

Both Wakka and Tidus turned back to look at her. Wakka winked, making his way out into the open, disappearing from her line of sight. "Thanks, though we won't need it ya."

Tidus lingered for a moment and Kairi noticed he wasn't acknowledging her, his eyes on Selphie as if she was the one who'd spoken. "See you later Selphie." He said at last, before disappearing after Wakka.

As soon as Wakka and Tidus were gone, Selphie, dragging Kairi with her, making a mad dash in the opposite direction to find seats. They were lucky getting ones in the first row. It felt nice inside the stadium, air-conditioned with a slight mist from the huge pool of water in the center. The game started soon afterwards and Kairi soon saw how into it everyone was as they stood up, shouting and cheering. Kairi sat passively, with her back straight, and hands on top of her knees but completely focused on the pool in front of her.

Much of the attention was on Tidus, nearly the whole stadium erupting into applause and chanting his name as soon as he entered. Kairi was more then surprised, had thought Selphie was exaggerating about Tidus too but she soon found Tidus was good, really good. Gliding through the water instead of swimming, launching himself into the air and falling back down to kick the blitzball, as if he could almost fly, all in a series of twists and turns that looked nearly impossible.

It was hard for Kairi to believe this was actually Tidus that the same boy she sat with at lunch who came up with the worst jokes, who stuffed food into his mouth until he could hardly breathe, could be capable of this, could have the crowd in a complete uproar. Kairi couldn't tear her eyes away from him while Selphie was just completely giddy beside her and repeatedly screaming in her ear but the redhead was watching for a different reason, a small smile slowly forming on her lips, anticipation welling inside of her.

Tidus and Wakka had been right, even though the other team could more then hold their own, against Tidus they never stood a chance.

It was late at night when Kairi was finally back out on the beach. She had just gone through Riku's routine again or really her routine now, she modified it enough to call it her own, added some things, took some things out, made the movements quicker, made it more difficult. She could do it perfectly now, without trying even with her eyes closed, she knew because she'd tried that before too.

Kairi was lying on her back, looking up at silvery stars, her ears buzzing with the sound of chirping crickets, hands behind her head, the wooden sword that she claimed as her's by her side. The sword felt as if it belonged in her hands, for reasons she couldn't figure out, felt right when she held it, even if over the last few months with constant use, it slowly continued to deteriorate, the wood splitting, breaking off into even more cracks, and smelling of nothing but rotting seaweed but still it held together, never let her down and Kairi wouldn't trade it for anything. Unconsciously she reached out a hand, running her fingers down the sword's edge until she could feel a familiar half circle slice, her thumb resting comfortably inside of it and the memory came back.

It was Halloween, years ago when she was hardly seven and Sora had dressed up as a pirate, wooden sword held proudly in front of him, later when she, Riku, and Sora were out on the beach after eating their fill of candy Sora with his sword in hand had climbed an oddly shaped tree, crawling out on an unsteady limb to show how fearless of a pirate he was but with Riku's taunting he'd stood up, walked forward, and for one heart clenching moment he'd almost fallen.

The sword was swung violently to the side in panic, hitting the sharp edge of a rock. Nothing had really happened, Sora was able to catch himself and Riku had sulkily gone up after him to get him down, but the sword was chipped, a small half circle slice on the side that grew over the years, but at the time Sora had only smiled, shrugged it off, later wrapping tape around it to cover the hole, and when that didn't work he'd tried rope until it seemed unimportant and the incident was forgotten about.

Kairi felt the familiar tightness return to her chest, knowing the sword had been his and she hugged it to herself her fingers curling around the hilt where once Sora had gripped it, Kairi could almost see the faintly darker lines where the tape and rope had been. "This was yours wasn't it Sora?" She laughed into the empty night, sitting up and holding it tighter, with her memories once more intact, each moment seemed unreal, different, new, and the sword that much more powerful, as if she could feel an electric charge vibrating underneath the wood, making it look to glow faintly and feel warm and pulsing to the touch, like there was something she was supposed to do, tap into, pull from it. Kairi closed her eyes, concentrated…

Then came the distant dull thud of a blitzball hitting the ground before bouncing off a tree and the sword again became ordinary. Kairi could just make out Tidus's heavy and rushed breathing followed by a grunt as he started his nightly practice from a little ways off.

Kairi felt a bit disappointed that she wasn't able to continue with whatever it was she'd been trying but the sound was what she'd been waiting for and Kairi stood up, sword in hand, making her way to the other side of the beach, until she could see Tidus and walked up quietly behind him, pleased with herself when he didn't notice her in the shadows, hadn't heard her approach.

"Hi Tidus."

The blitzball fell into the sand where it rolled limply before coming to a stop, Tidus spun to face her with wide eyes, face drained of blood, a hand on his chest, taking a gasp of air, his surprise quickly draining, replaced with indifference as soon as his eyes found her face. "Kairi" he said slowly. "First Selphie now you. You scared me."

Kairi always made sure to finish practicing before Tidus started his but now she was sweaty, hair sticking to her face, a little out of breath, and it was strange seeing Tidus in this way especially out in the dark with only the light of the moon and stars. Kairi offered him an apologetic smile. "Sorry."

"What are you doing over here?" Tidus asked, voice hard. "What do you want?"

"Nothing, and it's just I know you come out here to practice. I hear you all the time from where I'm out at night and I wanted to congratulate you on winning the game." It was a good of enough reason Kairi thought, after the game, she and Selphie hadn't had a chance to get close to either Wakka or Tidus, the crowd all gathering around Tidus, wanting to speak with him and before Kairi knew it, Wakka and Tidus had already left with their team.

"Right the game, what were you even doing there? Did Selphie force you?" Tidus asked defensively, his eyes shinning in suspicion as if daring her to deny it and Kairi could feel the regret pool inside of her again because she knew Tidus had every right to feel that way. She'd barely spoken to him over the last few months, knew almost nothing about his life or even showed she had an interest in it and even though they were friends, they were distant, almost strangers to each other. When Kairi was around the others and with Sora and Riku gone, it had always been her and Selphie, or Wakka and Tidus or the four of them together, it was never her or Wakka or her and Tidus.

Kairi shook her head. "No, it wasn't like that. I just felt like spending some time with my friends. I miss you, and Selphie, and Wakka. That's all, I wanted to be there."

Tidus looked away, turning his back to her, rolling the blitzball underneath his foot. "You never cared before."

"I did even if I didn't really show it. I should have been there more and I'm sorry. I never even realized how good you were."

"Well maybe you would have known if you ever bothered to come to one of my games." Tidus said mockingly. "But all you do is sit out on the beach, waiting for that boy to show up. You say we're your friends but you never bother to tell us anything. I mean why should I care if you waste your life away. You're only my friend right?"

Kairi felt hurt, couldn't think of how to respond but a name formed in her mind and she found her lips forming a reply before she even had a chance to think it over. "It's Sora."

Tidus glanced back at her. "What?"

"His name, the boy I'm waiting for. His name is Sora."

Tidus laughed bitterly. "He has a name now?"

"He always did," Kairi answered somberly "It's just I remember now that's all. I remember everything."

Tidus picked his blitzball up from off the sand, tossing it. "Sora's a jerk if you ask me."

"Why do you think that?" Kairi asked curiously.

"He left you here to wait didn't he? Day in and day out with nothing."

Kairi placed her hand on the trunk of a nearby tree, leaning eagerly forward, looking for any trace Tidus might remember the name, remember anything. Her voice rising in excitement, words coming out in a rush. "So you believe he's real then?"

"I'm-I'm not sure." Tidus replied thoughtfully, stilling the blitzball. "Sometimes I feel like there's someone missing but it's only a feeling everything else is blank and I try not to think about it too much. Maybe it's best if I don't know."

"Tidus…" Kairi said disbelievingly. "He was your friend."

In response Tidus threw his blitzball hard against the base of his tree, catching it easily with one hand before repeating the action. "And he left all of us here to rot!"

"No he didn't, he didn't have a choice." Kairi stated definitely

"There is always a choice." Tidus breathed, evenly matching her tone.

"Not for him," Kairi countered, blue-violet eyes glistening in astonishment. "How can you say that anyway? Did you even see yourself out there? You were amazing. Everyone loved you. You could leave this island so easily, if that's what you want, get a scholarship somewhere, do anything, be anything."

"So what if I could, it wouldn't make any difference. Nothing would change."

"What wouldn't change?" Kairi asked softly.

"That I'll never be able to compare to my father!"

"Tidus what are you talking about?"

Tidus let the blitzball bounce against his knee before kicking it violently, where it struck the tree, zooming to the side, past Kairi in a rush of air, splashing into the waves of the ocean. Tidus didn't say anything for awhile, his hands curled at his sides, breathing hard but when he turned to Kairi all traces of anger were gone, his face looking back to being indifferent, drained. "My mother is dying" He answered tonelessly.

The following silence was so thick Kairi thought she could drown in it. She felt something sharp run up and down her spin, felt numb at the same time, let herself sink down into the sand, letting her head fall back against rough wood, folding her legs and resting her arms around them. "I'm sorry," She whispered. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

"No one knows."

"How long? I mean do you know how long she-"

"I'm not sure. A few months, years, it's anyone's guess."

"What's wrong with her?"

Tidus stoically looked down at the ground, shifting a bare foot through the sand and Kairi didn't think he'd say anything but after a minute he looked up, emotionlessly answering her. "You've probably heard of my father. Jecht right? Named the best blitzball player in the world."

Kairi knew the name even though she was never into blitzball, everyone knew it. Jecht with the dark hair and eyes who was on the cover of countless magazines and set nearly every record in blitzball who everyone wanted to be like. Jecht who mysteriously disappeared several years ago, who no one could find. Kairi felt cold realization wash over her and dug her fingers into the sand, leaning forward on her arm, staring wildly at Tidus. "Jecht's your father?! The Jecht? Jecht who disappeared?"

Tidus carelessly shrugged her reaction off. "Yes, the Jecht. He left when I was just a little kid. He was never around much in the first place but when he was my mom's face would light up, she always ignored me for him and she had always been sick but when he left it was like she lost the will to live."

"Tidus…" Kairi started to say but she was still partially in shock and anything she might have said died in her throat.

"So I tried to be him." Tidus continued dryly, not seeming to care. "I thought if I could be him I could make my mom happy again. I've done everything I could think of, I've tried to step up, pushed myself at blitzball until I can hardly stand but none of what I do matters."

"You can't be your father." Kairi rationalized, her surprise over Jecht, quickly fading away the longer she listened to Tidus.

"No, I'll always be stuck in his shadow and there's nothing I can ever do about it. Sometimes I dream about leaving to go out into the unknown, the sea, wherever it takes me just so I can find him."

"Maybe," Kairi resolved, trying to sound hopeful. "Someday you will find him."

Tidus shook his head, face hardening. "It's just a dream but sometimes I feel like there's more out there. Blitzball, I'm good at it but I'm not sure if it's what I want to do. It was my father's legacy not mine, I just…I feel like there's something more I should be doing." Tidus laughed lightly. "Pretty crazy huh?"

"It's not crazy." Kairi replied firmly. "I stare out at the ocean for hours on end and know next to nothing about my past remember? I feel the exact same way."

"That's right," Tidus said with a grin. "I forgot about the raft idea."

Kairi shook her head in denial and Tidus started to laugh again.

Kairi glared at him slightly. "What is it?"

"Man, I just thought, now I'm even starting to sound like Riku with all his talk about leaving the islands and finding other worlds. How he said he was going to build a raft and set sail. I always thought he was just bragging but he was actually going to go through with it and then it's weird, it's like he just vanished. He probably drowned out there."

Kairi looked out to sea, at the gentle lapping waves barely reaching the edge of the shore. The ocean could be beautiful at times, sparkling and soothing, could give her something to look forward to, sustain her dreams but then Kairi looked out at the deeper water and the black of the constantly building storm that stood out even in the night and she knew it could just as easily take her dreams away, the ocean could be cold and dark, unforgiving, could kill, just as it supported life. Kairi shivered, reminded of Riku, what he'd been through, what he was capable of. Kairi was half terrified and strangely half amused, the concept of the silver haired teen drowning, feeling so surreal when she knew the truth. "That's what you think happened? Riku the best swimmer on the islands drowned?"

Tidus shrugged. "What else could have happened?"

"Ever think maybe he did find other worlds?" Kairi asked with a glint in her eyes. "Even if they weren't exactly what he thought they'd be."

Tidus joined her in looking out at the ocean with shielded eyes but his expression was longing. "I don't believe it" He said at last. "But I hope you're right."

Kairi didn't reply and Tidus soon went to retrieve his blitzball, stepping out into the surf and shortly coming back to stand in front of her. His hair damp from the spray and the edge of his shorts wet, the blitzball dripping with water where it had been half submerged.

"Tidus" Kairi said when his eyes lingered on her face, before he had a chance to say anything. "Do you remember when you, Wakka, and Riku used to spar with those wooden swords and Selphie would use her jump rope?"

"Of course I do," Tidus smirked. "How could I forget? Riku would always win too. I swear that guy was inhuman. No matter what we did, he won at everything. If you're right and he did find other worlds, if he ever comes came back I'd like to see him try and beat me at blitzball he wouldn't stand a chance." Tidus said confidently, holding the blitzball under his arm, against his hip.

"Probably not," Kairi teased. "Exactly like he wouldn't believe Jecht's your father either. Is it alright if I tell him that, when I see him again?"

"You can do whatever you want, it's not like I'm trying to hide anything."

Kairi suddenly wanted to see Riku so badly, only to tell him. Out of their trio Riku had been the most interested in blitzball, which really wasn't that much but Kairi, could guess what his reaction would be, eyes wide in disbelief, stunned, but then laughing to cover it up like he'd known the whole time. Kairi's heart gave a painful thud and she swallowed back the yearning. "Tidus?"

"Yeah?"

"I lied."

"Lied?"

"Earlier," Kairi clarified. "When I said I didn't want anything, maybe I do."

Tidus frowned slightly at her, the beginning of distrust starting to return to his eyes. "What is it?" He asked neutrally.

Kairi stood up from the sand, with her sword, holding it out in front of her. "Want to spar?"

Tidus looked vacant for a moment but then smiled slightly. "With you?"

Kairi looked around, scanning the beach before looking back to Tidus. "I don't see anyone else here."

Tidus shook his head partially serious and partially disbelieving. "But why now? I haven't spared in such a long time."

"It wasn't that long ago." Kairi countered.

"You were never into this kind of stuff before why the change?"

"I'm not sure really." Kairi said, speaking quickly, her voice rising with exhilaration at finally telling someone. "But its just I found this wooden sword out on the beach and ever since I've been practicing every night, following Riku's old routine and I've got it down pretty good but there's only so much I can do by myself and I wanted to try fighting against someone."

"You've been practicing." Tidus repeated as if he couldn't quite believe it.

Kairi sighed. "Yes, watch." She began one of the more difficult steps of the routine, her arm making quick movements until she could hear the sword cutting through the air. It was as if she was dancing, her technique well practiced, flawless, swinging her feet around until the point of her sword came directly at Tidus's forehead.

Tidus awkwardly took a step back, his eyes wide. "Wow that's just…how long have you been…wait never mind that's just…wow."

"So" Kairi smiled slyly. "Do you want to spar?"

There really wasn't a reason for Tidus to decline but he hesitated still looking a bit awkward. "I don't have my sword anymore."

"That's an easy fix." Kairi said, walking over to the tree, she'd just been leaning against, finding a foothold in the trunk and hoisting herself up until she was able to snap off a branch. Jumping back down she stripped the access limbs off, throwing it Tidus's feet. "Here use a tree branch."

Tidus picked the branch up, it was sturdy, long, the wood thick. "That's kind of unfair isn't it?"

"For who?"

"You," Tidus answered, running his eyes over Kairi's sword. "That thing looks pretty flimsy, especially against a tree branch."

"The sword's faster." Kairi replied easily. "Plus I like it."

"Alright fine." Tidus said, face coming alive. He'd always been one to live in the moment, anything to get his mind off things, and after talking to Kairi, he was glad for the challenge. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

Kairi shifted into a defensive position, leaning forward, holding her sword tightly with both hands. "Someone is confident."

"Why shouldn't I be?" Tidus smirked, twirling the branch in one hand. "I used to be the second best at this next to Riku."

"Third best." Kairi corrected. "You're forgetting about Sora."

"Sora doesn't count if I can't remember him."

Kairi relaxed her position, letting her shoulders slump but she didn't lessen her grip on the sword. "Right, but since you're so confident lets make a bet."

"Kairi-"

"Come on unless you're scared." Kairi pressed challengingly. "If you win what do you want?"

"You mean when I win." Tidus taunted, but folded his arms thoughtfully before placing a finger to his chin. "But alright fine, you have to do my ten page English paper that I haven't started on yet. That's due _in a week_."

"Okay." Kairi said without hesitation. "And if I win then you know the storm that's been building up?" She waited until she saw Tidus nod. "You have to promise me that when it hits, you'll go into the deepest cave, tunnel, whatever you can find, and not come out until it's over and if it's at all possible you have to take Selphie and Wakka with you. And I'll still help you finish you're English paper on time but I just won't do it for you."

Tidus gave her an incredulous look. "What kind of bet is that?"

"Well, if you're so sure you're going to win then you don't have to worry about it. Do you? So do we have a deal or not?"

"Fine" Tidus relented. "But if somehow you do manage to win, then I also get a rematch."

Kairi shifted back into position, eyes focused determinedly on Tidus. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Are you sure about this Kairi?" Tidus asked, following her example, getting into his own fighting stance but offering her the chance to back out.

"More then anything." Kairi replied firmly. "I'm not going to turn my back on the friends I have anymore. I've had enough of waiting, it's no longer enough. I'll never stop believing, never stop holding out for Sora but it's time to actually do something about it."

Tidus grinned. "Glad to hear it."

Tidus made the first move and Kairi blocked. Fighting against someone was so much different then practicing alone. Kairi, found herself acting on reflexes, with no time to think and she gave everything she had to stay one-step ahead of Tidus. Tidus was strong, experienced, a good match for her but the blonde soon realized she wasn't going down easily. Their match was long, drawn out, and as it went on their movements became more desperate, more chaotic. Kairi liked not having to think for once, liked testing her abilities, and strangely fighting had came easy for her ever since the first time she'd picked up that wooden sword, it was something she knew she could do even if it had taken countless hours of practicing.

It took a moment before Kairi realized she'd won but not before Tidus thoroughly challenged her to a rematch and threatened to bring along Wakka next time.


	11. Fall Apart

Notes: Another time jump and you can probably see where I'm starting to go with this story since this chapter is kind of like the breaking point. So, I also figured I'd do some review replies.

Kimitala: Aww don't say that, you're wonderful and your reviews have really inspired me. Thank you so much, only now I feel guilty for what I'm going to put Kairi through and with this chapter things start getting so much worse and they just kind of keep going down hill from there but I still hope you'll like it.

Aniuwolfe: Thanks so much for reviewing its always so nice to hear from new readers and I want to write Riku again so badly and Sora too even though I haven't even written him yet and he's the main character in this. There are still a few more things I have to get through but I'm really going to try to bring them in as soon as I can.

Knux 33: Thanks so much for all your reviews. Final Fantasy X was one of few Final Fantasy games I think I've played all the way through so I actually know the background on it and I thought it would be fun to work a little bit of it into the story.

Chapter 9: Fall Apart

Roxas had it all figured out, all he had to do was grind down the rail, flip off the edge and hang two posters on the wall directly across, skate over to the building on his right, hang another five, which would take him to a ledge and another rail, then he'd be in the more open part of the Twilight Town plaza, where three buildings were grouped together along with a billboard, allowing him to hang the remaining posters, all under thirty seconds and without having to get off his skateboard.

After four more months, school was finally out for the summer, he, Pence, Hayner, and Olette would be able to spend a lot more time together and to celebrate they were at last all going down to the beach and after buying train tickets they'd even managed to have enough munny left over to buy one of those overly expensive watermelons. Pence was bringing his camera to take pictures and they were all meeting at the Usual Spot.

Less then a year ago Roxas would have never envisioned himself doing something like this, much less looking forward to it but the beach was all he'd been thinking about for the last few weeks. He wanted to spend all the time he could with his friends, to make up for what he never had before and Roxas found himself planning all the things the four of them would be able to do together with school out of the way but there was only one problem, Roxas was running late, being the reason why he was currently trying to complete the rest of his poster route in thirty seconds.

Looking down at the rail and giving it a determined glare, Roxas flipped his skateboard with his foot before jumping onto it, wheels instantly catching on the metal pole and Roxas laughed slightly at the thrill the sensation gave him, like falling, with the wind whipping through his hair but a split second later he felt suddenly off like somehow his body had just grown heavier, and he began to falter, a sharp pain running through his head, black spots forming at the edge of his vision.

_He was underwater but it was like breathing air. The duck and the dog were with him as always, but in the forms of an octopus and turtle and where his own legs were supposed to be was nothing but a gray fish tail. Structures of blue-gray rock enclosed him in a cavern, forming shelves, filled with various items all well cared for but once looked to have been thrown away. A merman was before him with a stern face and thoughtful eyes, a golden crown tucked into his long white hair. "As the key bearer, you must already know one must not meddle in the affairs of other worlds."_

_He watched as a mermaid swam up through the same cavern, her arms outstretched, cheery red hair fanning out around her, amethyst eyes sparkling in wonder. "So many places I want to see... I know I'll get there someday."_

_He was in a small tan room made from stone bricks and lit by fire burning in decorative bowls. A man with bulging muscles, curly orange hair, wearing leather and a cape of royal blue stood leaning against a wall, arms crossed, facing him, looking on in interest. Beside the man was a faun, half human and half goat, not any taller then his knee, two curving black horns growing from his head, standing on a pillar, and reading from a piece of paper "Thus, I do hereby dub thee junior heroes." _

_The duck waved his arms in front of himself. "Hey! What do you mean junior heroes?"_

_The faun placed a hand on his hip. "You rookies still don't understand what it takes to be a true hero."_

_He was in a house or more of a small room high up off the ground, crudely built with mismatched wooden boards, and many gaping holes where he could see the bright blue of the sky and a white palace in the distance. A young man was half kneeled on the floor with an olive skin tone and hair of wavy ebony, talking to a blue genie drifting in front of him. "I...I wish...for your freedom, Genie."_

_The genie opened his mouth in surprise. "Al!"_

_He watched in awe along with the dog and the duck as the genie was surrounded in a whirlpool of pink and purple light, being granted legs._

_He was in some kind of dark research lab, numerous instruments and liquids he couldn't even begin to identify churned and bubbled against the walls, a skeleton with long limbs and a pin-striped suit stood at the entrance, regretfully slumping his shoulders. "Sally, why didn't I listen to you?"_

_What looked like a living doll walked up to him, her grayish skin unevenly sewn together, wearing a dress made from scraps of fabric, long hair the color of amber, taking the skeleton's hands in both of her's. "Don't feel bad, Jack. We'll come up with another plan for Halloween. Next time, we'll do it together."_

_He spun the keyblade over his head before touching it to the ground, creating a burst of pink light. "Power!"_

_A small red dragon suddenly appeared, coming to perch on top of his head. "I am Mushu."_

_He was in some type of chamber, or at least that's what it seemed to be but there was an acidic smell in the air and the floor and walls were made up of dark purple, pink, and blue flesh, moving and breathing around him. _

_The silver haired teen was in front of him a few feet away, tilting his head mockingly. "Or are you too cool to play them now that you have the Keyblade?"_

_He gasped in surprise. "Riku! What are you doing here?"_

_An image of the redheaded girl flashed in front of his eyes. "Did you find her?"_

_He was on the rusty auburn deck of a ship, elaborately structured but with boxes and boards scattered everywhere. A boy wearing all green with unruly ginger hair, stood beside the duck and the dog, all three focused on him._

_He looked up half longing and half eager. "I still can't believe it. I really flew. Wait 'til I tell Kai--." The image of the redhead flashed before his eyes again. "I wonder if she'll believe me. Probably not."_

_He was outside standing underneath the balcony of a clock tower, framed by stone gray pillars, the sky was dark and the boy wearing all green was still there along with a girl, her hair the same ginger shade, tide up in a blue ribbon, and with a long blue nightgown that reached her ankles. A small fairy left the boy's side to fly over to him, twirling in front of his face in a trail of golden sparkles, giving him both an innocent and cunning smile._

_He was outside a coliseum, light tan stone walls and steps branched out around him. A young man walked in front of him, blonde hair sticking up in all directions, wearing black and silver with a dark red cloak trailing behind him. _

_He watched from the corner of his eyes but quickly turned his head. "I'm searching, too." _

_The blonde spared him a glance before passing. "For your light? Don't lose sight of it."_

_He was in an open field, the sky lit by softly glowing stars, the grass a deep emerald green, large trees with full leaves and several branches surrounded him and several animals were scattered around, watching as he walked away._

_A small pig called to him in a curious voice. "Sora, where are you going?"_

_He stopped and turned around. "I'm gonna go look for my friends. They're waiting for me." _

_The animals gathered close to each other in silent understanding, a brown bear smiled at him, waving goodbye._

_He was back on the deck of the ship and the silver haired teen was there, but on a different level, standing behind brown railing._

_He looked up at him. "Where are Donald and Goofy?"_

_The silver haired teen's eyes flickered coldly. "Instead of worrying about them, you should be asking about her." He took a step to the side to show he was shielding the redheaded girl but she didn't move, her body slumped forward like a puppet without strings, her eyes staring and unblinking without seeing._

_He's was back at the clock tower but flying, drifting in front of it, the clock glowing bright yellow and shining like a beacon in the black of the night. A keyhole appeared in the side and the familiar swirl of power ran through the keyblade, sealing the keyhole._

_Everything faded to white, faces running through his mind, of friends he grew up with, of friends on distant worlds that he only half recognized, then there was the silver haired teen, a smug look on his face, his arms crossed, but with everyone else he quickly faded away until he could only the redheaded girl, a barely there smile on her face, and eyes that looked as if they could see right through him. _

When everything came back to Roxas he realized he was still grinding down the rail but he was shaky and dazed, too late to make an effort to steady himself. The skateboard left his feet, crashing somewhere off to the side, posters he was holding scattering everywhere, his ankle catching awkwardly on the pole, ribs hitting metal before he bounced off, falling back first onto the concrete ramp.

Roxas didn't move, staring up at the sky, trying to catch his breath, winded but otherwise unhurt.

"Roxas!" He heard his boss shout, heavy footsteps running toward him from not far off, the man kneeling beside him and Roxas could hardly make out his face through the large stomach. "Are you okay?" He gasped.

Roxas nodded and the man clutched his shoulder with grubby fingers, helping him to sit up. "You're sure?"

Roxas placed a hand to the back of his head, wincing slightly. "I'm fine."

His boss let go, frowning but looking more concerned that the rest of the poster job was in danger of not getting done then about the blonde. "I don't know what it is with you kids trying to do all these crazy stunts. Can't you just ever listen for once? That was how the last guy broke his leg…"

Roxas wasn't paying attention. The string of memories had to mean something, the first coming right after he saw Sora, the second before he talked with Naminé, so he didn't think the third would just come randomly, not after four months and he tried to think of an explanation before Hayner's, Pence's, and Olette's names entered his mind, still waiting for him at the Usual Spot, alone. Roxas felt his throat go dry, his blood run cold, and he knew something had happened, something was deadly wrong.

A long shadow came to cover the ground and Roxas looked up to the sky, rapidly growing dark with a black split forming in the center, branching out and curling like smoke through shattered glass. A sound came, a crack, half like thunder and half like a low howl, and for a moment Roxas couldn't feel anything, not even the wind, everything was still and dying.

It was his boss's voice that brought him back, the man's eyes focused grimly on the sky. There were never storms in Twilight Town. "Wow, I've never seen rain come up this fast before. Why don't you say we call it a day?"

"It's not rain."

"Huh? You don't think so? Wonder what it could be then."

Roxas stood up, a bit unsteady, feeling a slight twinge of pain run through his chest but ignored it.

"Do you need any help?" His boss asked with a hint of worry, standing up as well.

Roxas looked over to his skateboard, lying a few feet away, flipped over, the back wheel missing. "No."

The man tugged at a black sideburn. "Hey, didn't you say you were planning on going to the beach today? Sorry, but it looks like you may have to cancel your plans. It's probably best if you get home, stay indoors. Regardless if it rains or not, I've been hearing these strange reports of people being found with their chests torn opened kind of scary when you think about it. I tell you some sick people in this world…"

Roxas didn't hear him, breaking out into a run without a glance back, stumbling slightly but quickly regaining his balance, forcing himself to run faster until he could feel the burn in his lungs. It was as if he could hear something screaming inside his mind _find Hayner, Pence, and Olette. _Distantly he had to wonder if this is what fear was like, if this is what panic was like.

"Hayner! Pence! Olette!" Roxas shouted as soon as the Usual Spot came into view, stopping short, breathing hard through his suddenly tight throat but there was no answer and he looked up, seeing nothing out of place, everything still. For a moment he felt silly, hoped he'd only been overreacting but the sky was still split and then Roxas noticed the strong smell, the coppery taste of blood in the air, could feel the frigid darkness around him like tiny pin pricks dancing along his skin. He felt sick, repressed the urge to gag.

"Roxas!" There was a mad scrambling from inside the Usual Spot and then Olette was before him, standing at the entrance, leaning against the chain link fence to support herself, her right forearm drenched in red fluid, soaking into her shirt, running from her fingers, her eyes glazed over, opened wide in horror, trembling so badly she could barely stand. She opened her mouth, trying to form words but nothing came except for something between a gasp and a dry scream.

Roxas ran to her but quickly adverted his eyes when he caught sight of Pence. The brunet's body was pushed aside, lying in the middle of their Usual Spot surrounded in blood, his shirt shredded and skin severed from just below his neck to under his ribcage by deep red claw marks, revealing chunks of torn muscle, his eyes shut tightly, skin pale, red streaming from the corners of his mouth, and Roxas could hear the liquid in his throat as he struggled vainly to draw air into his lungs.

Roxas was acting before he had a chance to understand what was going on, collapsing at Pence's side, removing his jacket and holding it against ravaged strips of skin, reaching out a hand to grip his friend's shoulder, shaking him. "Pence!"

Pence didn't respond except for another wet strangled gasp and Roxas automatically found his hand trailing up the brunet's neck to find a pulse, feeling a dull throb, barely there. Roxas let his hand slip away, looking to his jacket, seeing it quickly being soaked through with blood, coating his palm and realized he didn't know what to do.

Roxas had fixed himself up countless time, set his own bones, suffered through and bounded numerous lacerations, but none of it had ever been life threatening, without a heart there was no danger in bleeding to death but Pence looked so frail, so mortal beside him and Roxas was reminded painfully of how different he was from his friends. He knew something like this would eventually happen, shouldn't have been surprised, knew what Hayner's, Pence's, and Olette's fate would be as long as he continued to exist but at the same time it had felt so impossible, so distant, like some scattered dream but it had happened and Pence was really bleeding to death in front of his eyes, and there was so much blood and he wasn't stopping it.

Roxas felt his entire arm shake, even as he pressed down harder against his ruined jacket. The sensation he believed to be fear and panic come back but stronger, running through his every nerve, leaving him both hot and cold, the world around him fading until there was only him and Pence, Roxas swallowed, breathing hard, trying to refocus himself, needing to stay in control.

There was sobbing from behind him and he looked to see Olette, practically forgotten about her. She was on her knees, a hand pressed to the ground, her damaged arm hanging limply at her side, head turned away, tears falling from her tightly shut eyes, splashing onto a thin covering of dirt, screaming more then she was crying.

"Olette!" Roxas called, not recognizing the sound of his own voice, something had hitched, broken, but whatever it was, Olette instantly looked up. "You need to get help!"

Olette shut her eyes again, shaking her head, fighting to find her voice. "Hayner went to-to call…an ambulance. He-he told me to s-stay here."

Roxas nodded numbly. "Olette….please…"

He wasn't sure what he was asking her for but she stood anyway, staggering over to him, kneeling on the other side of Pence, by his head as far away as she was able from the blood, hunching forward, clutching her shoulder.

Roxas used her face to focus, to keep himself anchored in the present, to concentrate on anything else besides Pence's jerking body, ragged breathing, and the growing pool of blood. "Then you need to help me."

Olette clutched her shoulder tighter, gritting her teeth. "I-I can't."

Without thinking Roxas grabbed her bloodied arm, his fingers wrapping tightly around her wrist, pulling her forward and she cried out but out of reflex Roxas didn't let go, held tighter, turning her arm, seeing her skin sliced from her wrist to her elbow in three neat but deep and jagged lines

Blood was trailing down her skin in thin rivulets, smeared across her palm, and Roxas realized how unfocused her eyes were, how her skin had whitened, how badly she was shaking, and he froze, had seen the signs of blood loss before from missions even though he'd never gone through them himself. Olette was slack in his grip, not making any attempt to pull away, and Roxas looked down to his hand, where his fingers were pressed against a gash, faintly tearing into her skin, his grip immediately lessened and Olette took her arm back.

Roxas could feel anger beginning to surface. "Olette what-"

"It won't work." She gasped quickly, demonstrating by trying to flex her fingers but only managing to make them twitch. "It feels so numb."

"What did this to you?!" Roxas bit out already knowing the answer but asking anyway, his eyes hardening, free hand forming into a fist, nails cutting into his palm.

"I don't know!" Olette choked. "I-I saw it and Pence was screaming and I couldn't help him until it was too late. He-he kept screaming and it wouldn't stop…it wouldn't stop…it wouldn't stop." Olette curled more into herself, sobbing but she wasn't crying anymore, it looked as if she was choking, struggling to breathe.

Roxas tried not to show any emotion, tried to calm himself, had to keep level headed at least for the moment, reaching forward he placed his hand on Olette's shoulder. "Olette, stop it. You're getting hysterical and it's not helping anything. I'm here with you alright? Focus on me."

Olette lifted her head, eyes looking to blur through the tears but she locked them with his. "I feel so strange, lighter."

Roxas tightened his hold on her shoulder. "Don't think about that. You have to calm down so you can help me with Pence. Breathe with me okay?"

Olette nodded jerkily and Roxas breathed in deeply, waiting for Olette to follow him, until they were breathing together, until she was breathing normally by herself, and her trembling had lessened, her tears had ceased

Roxas let his hand fall away, fingers briefly trailing down her arm, trying to reassure her but not knowing how. "You back with me now?"

"I'm alright," Olette answered, her voice strained. "Tell me what to do."

Roxas refocused his attention back to Pence, back to his hand still on the jacket. "Help me hold this down."

Olette swallowed hard, biting her lip, hesitantly moving her hand across Pence's chest by Roxas's, grimacing when she touched warm liquid but not withdrawing, helping Roxas to put pressure on the wound. "Like this?"

"Yeah, that's good. Press down as hard as you can."

Olette tightened her hold, causing more blood to gush forth and Pence to grunt underneath of them. She jerked her head away, closing her eyes. "Roxas I don't think this is working!"

"It's normal." Roxas replied hastily, sensing Olette was going to panic again. "Keep pressing down. Remember what I said? Don't look at him. Focus on me."

Olette once again locked her eye's with his, searching his face. "But what if this isn't helping him. There has to be something more we can do and he's not getting any better he's…Do you think he's in pain?"

"He isn't even awake." Roxas rationalized. "He can't feel any of this and we're doing everything we can just hang on with me."

"I'm trying" Olette said tightly, her words slurring. "But I can't…not on my own."

Roxas stared blankly back at her, not understanding what she meant. "I'm right here."

"Then don't leave me!" Olette nearly shouted, sounding terrified, desperate.

"Leave you? Why would you think that?"

Olette twisted her fingers in the sticky and red splattered fabric of Roxas's jacket. "I don't know but sometimes I can see something in your eyes, and you…you get this look and I never know what's going to happen."

Roxas unconsciously leaned further over Pence, his hand lightly brushing against Olette's. "I will never leave you alone." He stated definitely. "But I can't always be with you."

Olette swallowed back a sob, blinking away tears, the corners of her mouth twitching, her eyes oddly pensive. "What are you going to do Roxas?" She asked evenly.

Roxas shook his head ignoring the question. "It doesn't matter. Olette listen you have to tell me what happened."

Olette didn't seem to hear him, her eyes growing distant, glancing upward. "There's something wrong with the sky."

"I know. I see it."

"I'm afraid Roxas." She whispered. "I'm so afraid."

"Olette" Roxas breathed. "I need to know. Please, it's important."

The brunet nodded, answering slowly. "Pence and I- we got here first but there was th-this thing that looked like some kind of insect with these weird yellow eyes and Pence…he wanted to see what it was…but there was something wrong with it and I told him to stay back but he didn't listen to me, tried to touch it and it leapt on his chest, started clawing at him." Olette paused, shuddering, gasping for breath, forcing herself to continue. "He couldn't pull it off and he started screaming and there was so much blood and I just watched, I-I froze. I don't know what was wrong with me! He kept screaming I couldn't do anything!"

"What happened after that? The heart- the thing you saw, it wouldn't have stopped there. It would have…there had to have been something else."

Olette tore her eyes from his and Roxas wasn't sure if she noticed the slip or not but she didn't comment on it. "I saw this stick" She continued absently. "And I hit it with it. Then it got off Pence and scratched me. That's when Hayner came and the thing it just…ran past Hayner, ran off. If I would have moved sooner, acted sooner, I could have stopped it!"

Roxas shook his head. "No, you did fine, none of this was your fault. It didn't take Pence's heart that's the important thing."

"Why would it want Pence's heart? Roxas what are you talking about?!"

Roxas fell silent not attempting an answer but Olette was watching him, suspicion forming on her face, waiting for something. Roxas breathed in deeply, eyes shinning grimly. "I'm going to kill it."

Olette gasped as if she'd just been struck, her every feature coming alive in sheer terror. "No! You can't. You can't. It will hurt you too."

"It won't hurt me." Roxas replied stonily. "It couldn't even if it tried."

"But look what it did to Pence!"

"And Hayner's still out there."

Olette's shoulders shook, her arm tensing over Pence, lowering her head. "But he said he was just going to call an ambulance. He said he'd be right back but what if the thing what if it-"

"I'm sure he's fine," Roxas cut her off heatedly. "But I'm going to make sure it will never hurt any one of us again."

Olette shifted her hand by Roxas's, loosely curling the tips of her fingers around his as if wanting to hold him down. "Roxas don't. Please don't."

"I know what I'm doing," Roxas said with as much conviction as he could. "Olette trust me."

Olette didn't have a chance to respond before Hayner came crashing through the gate, a hand fisted at his chest, panting hard, nearly doubled over, swaying unsteady on his feet. "It's alright I called-I called, their on their way, they'll be here in a few minutes."

Hayner stumbled forward, falling to his knees in front of Olette, forming a strange half circle between the three of them and Roxas felt cold relief wash over him at seeing his friend was alright, only physically drained.

"Hayner…" Olette mouthed, letting herself lean slightly toward him

Hayner expressionlessly stared down at Pence, automatically moving to help Olette and Roxas stop the bleeding, free hand curling against the ground. "They'll be here soon. They have to be, hang on Pence."

Roxas quickly pulled his fingers away from Olette's, standing up, making his way to the entrance. "Both of you stay here."

Hayner's eyes flickered to him and then Olette, clouded with doubt and confusion. "Roxas what?"

"He thinks he can kill that thing!." Olette burst out.

"But it's gone." Hayner said blankly. "We saw it run off."

"It wouldn't have gone far and I know how to track it."

"Roxas…you can't kill it." Hayner frowned, looking as if he was about ready to stand up and intervene. "Don't go anywhere."

"Even if you could," Olette struggled to say, voice wavering. "Why does it even matter anymore? And we need…we need to stay together."

Roxas turned his head until he was looking fully at them. "I'll be right back."

Roxas didn't wait for a response he just ran, only stopping shortly to snap off a loose and jagged piece of metal from the fence, faintly hearing Hayner and Olette shouting his name.

The heartless was easy to track and Roxas found it almost instantly, a short distance away, shadowed and half hidden in a corner from a deserted brick building, blood dripping from its claws. It scratched at the ground as if wanting to remove it, looking up when Roxas approached, running glowing yellow eyes over his chest, chirping and tilting its head curiously when it didn't find what it was looking for, resembling a deformed puppy, before disregarding Roxas completely that he didn't have the keyblade, and going back to pawing at the ground.

Roxas wanted to torture it, to hear it scream. It was nothing more then a Neoshadow that he could kill in less then a blink of an eye but in a few seconds it had torn his life apart, turned his world upside down, had hurt his friends, endangered Pence's life, and Roxas knew it wasn't the shadow's fault, not really as the only thing it could comprehend was its undying thirst for a heart but now Twilight Town would soon be swarmed with them, would fall, and there would be casualties. It still didn't feel quite real yet but as long as he stayed separate from Sora he was putting everyone in danger, he was the reason why the sky was starting to crack, why Pence was currently drenched in his own blood, and there was only one way to stop it.

"No!" Roxas shouted grabbing the Neoshadow by its antenna, lifting it up off the ground, dangling it in front of him. At first the heartless was lax in his grip but then slowly began to struggle, squealing, and attempting to claw at his wrist. Roxas waved the piece of metal in front of its eyes but the heartless didn't register what it was for, didn't so much as glance at it, to caught up in trying to free itself, but Roxas hardly cared, trailing the metal across it's bulging head, and pressing slowly in. The shadow's squealing turned into ear splitting screams before only seconds later it dissolved into a mist of darkness, over all too soon, and leaving Roxas feeling unsatisfied, but he didn't give himself the chance to think about it, running back to the Usual Spot.

Hayner and Olette were in the same positions as when he left but Olette was hunched over again sobbing, muttering something to Pence that Roxas couldn't make out and Hayner had gone still, ridged, looking out in front of him, watching for the ambulance or so Roxas guessed, but Hayner's face was void, eyes glazed over from shock, as if pretending he was somewhere else, as if this was some nightmare he was waiting to wake up from, his hand so close by Olette's that no matter how he moved they'd be touching but he was too far gone, too distant to help her.

"Roxas!" Olette called to him as soon as he entered. "He's not breathing like he was it's different."

Roxas could hear it, the gasping more strangled, heavier, slower, less often, and it occurred to him then that Pence was probably only minutes away from dying, Roxas felt his mask begin to slip, something inside of him begin to give way, begin to crash, and distantly he wondered what was taking the ambulance so long.

Roxas did the only thing he could think of running back toward Olette, wrapping one arm around her shoulders but reflectively she flinched violently away from him. "It's alright." Roxas whispered his voice hitching. "It's me it's me it's just me."

He felt her instantly relax and pulled her closer, resting his forehead against her's. "I killed it." He continued to chant by her ear. "It's gone. It's never coming back. I killed it I killed it."

How?" Hayner asked dryly.

Roxas wordlessly handed him the piece of metal still clutched tightly in his hand and coated with a few wispy strands of darkness. Hayner held it loosely, eyeing it suspiciously as if it would attack him at any moment. "You got this from the fence?"

"I tore it off. It was loose."

Hayner didn't look as if he quite believed it, eyes vaguely narrowed, guarded. "Why is it so cold? The thing, what did you do to it?"

"It's not important."

Hayner reluctantly nodded, choosing not to say anything, letting the metal fall from his fingers.

"I'll protect you." Roxas said, looking straight at Hayner before turning back to Olette. "I'll protect both of you. As long as you're with me you'll be safe. I won't let them hurt you."

Hayner shifted forward, placing his hand on Olette's back, the three of them all protectively curled over Pence until only seconds later when he stopped breathing altogether and that was when Roxas could finally hear the sirens.

There wasn't any time to react before paramedics, strangers, came rushing into the Usual Spot, and someone was soon demanding for them to move and Roxas found they were all being pushed away as the area was cleared around Pence, paramedics crouched beside him, shouting orders to each other, trying to get him to breathe again.

Roxas wasn't paying attention to any of it, standing with Olette, his hand around her upper arm, trying to find anyone that wasn't close to Pence, rushing over toward a man handling equipment. "Hey!"

"Kid, listen you need to-"

"No! You don't understand my friend's hurt!"

Roxas quickly showed him Olette's arm and she did nothing to try to resist, but Roxas wasn't sure if she could have even if she'd wanted too, she'd gone almost completely placid, was still losing blood.

"Okay" The man nodded, reaching for Olette.

"You'll be alright." Roxas told her quickly.

Roxas could see the fear shinning through her eyes at being separated, her fingers brushing against his in a last effort for contact.

Roxas absently reached for her hand. "Hayner and I will be right behind you."

"Roxas…" It was all Olette was able to say before she was taken away from him, gone from his line of sight.

Roxas searched for Hayner, seeing him standing stoically against the fence, out of the way, and made his way over to him, leaning beside him, hand curling around the metal of the fence, needing something to grip onto, but Hayner didn't even seem to notice him, his head tilted upward, eyes focused warily on the sky.

Roxas gripped the fence tighter, trying to think of something, anything he could do for Pence but he didn't have healing magic or any access to potions and even if he did it wouldn't have mattered, this kind of damage, damage to the heart was irreversible. There was nothing.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hayner move, lowering his head to stare at something on the ground and Roxas soon realized it was a tote bag jammed with Pence's beach things. A blue towel and yellow swim trunks with dancing banana print had fallen out and then there was Pence's camera, the camera Pence always carried around with him, the camera they were going to take pictures with at the beach to laugh about later, lay crushed and broken. Hayner bent down, picking up the glinting pieces, holding them in his hands, turning them over and over.

Roxas remotely lifted a hand in front of his face to see Pence's dried blood but hearing another ambulance he refocused his attention back on the paramedics as they lifted Pence onto a stretcher, forced a breathing tube down his throat, and in that moment for the first time in his life, Roxas realized he was completely, utterly helpless.


	12. On the Outside Looking In

Thank you to knux33, Aove, KittyBlue, and aniuwolfe for reviewing. I also have a theme song now! Inseparable by the Jonas Brothers so I'm going to start doing a few lines.

_Take my hand tonight  
_

_We can run so far_

Chapter 10: On the Outside Looking In

Roxas found himself alone in the hallway of a hospital although it wasn't really a hallway but it wasn't a waiting room either. There were exactly four chairs lined up against the wall and an end table with magazines and a remote that went to the currently blank TV screen just overhead.

The hospital reminded Roxas a little of the Castle That Never Was for the high walls, the different levels, and the white but at least the white wasn't overwhelming, as the walls were a pale yellow, the chairs red, and there were dark blue designs of squares on the floor.

He and Hayner had stuck together at first and were shortly asked a series of questions before being left alone and Hayner had decided to wait in the hallway since it was the closest to everything that was going on. Then a few minutes later someone had came by to tell them they were preparing Pence for emergency surgery, only that was around two hours ago and Hayner had been gone for at least half that time, going off to argue with just about anyone who would listen to him. It hadn't taken Hayner long to come out of the shock he'd been in, quickly growing cold and angry.

Roxas hadn't tried to stop him, hadn't said much at all but with Hayner gone no one was paying any attention to him, as if he'd become a part of the background, not that Roxas cared really, almost glad he was being overlooked but he hadn't heard anything about Pence since or Olette and wondered if Hayner was having any luck but seriously doubted it.

Roxas felt detached, sitting with his elbow digging into his leg and his chin resting in his palm, staring vacantly at the wall across from him, keeping his mind carefully blank. Everything he'd felt from before had seemed to wear off and in spite of Hayner, Roxas was only tired and drained, focused more on that he was currently board then on Pence and Olette, even thought about reaching for a magazine but somehow that didn't seem like the right thing to do so he remained staring at the wall.

Steps echoed through the hallway and Roxas could tell it was Hayner without having to look up, his friend stopping right before him, and Roxas let his eyes flicker upward, seeing Hayner's arms crossed, his lips pressed together, eyes glinting anxiously, whole body tense.

"So" Roxas said, almost sarcastically. "I'm taking it you didn't find out anything."

Hayner shut his eyes tightly, biting into his bottom lip, his breathing hitching, before lifting an arm and hitting the wall hard beside Roxas with the back of his fist. "The damn doctors won't tell me anything!"

Roxas sat up straighter, leaning back in his chair, rolling his shoulders to get the soreness out of his neck. "Wonder why, might be your wonderful attitude."

Hayner immediately scowled at him. "Why don't you try it? Aren't you supposed to be good at that intimidation type stuff?"

Roxas shrugged. "They'll tell us when they know something."

"How can you be so calm?!"

"Maybe you should try it."

"Yeah?" Hayner returned. "Well maybe you should quit it because from the moment we've gotten here you've barely said two words. It's like you're acting emotionless!"

Roxas knew Hayner didn't understand the meaning behind what he just said but still it stung. "So you ever think before you talk Hayner?" Roxas snapped defensively.

Hayner looked blank for a moment before narrowing his eyes. "What are you talking about? That's all I've been doing since I got here! I can't stop thinking but at least unlike you I'm actually trying to do something about it!"

"Fine," Roxas said unimpressed. "I'm acting emotionless so what?"

"So what?" Hayner repeated disbelievingly. "Our friend almost died and it's like you don't even care!"

Roxas noticed the 'almost died' like Hayner was trying to escape the reality of what might happen but ignored it. "Then tell me what you want me to do Hayner." He replied flatly.

"What-"

"Go on," Roxas cut him off icily. "What do you want me to do? How do you want me to act? Should I break down and cry like Olette or do you want me to start losing my head like you? Tell me because I have no idea!"

"I don't care!" Hayner shouted without thinking, leaning forward, eyes flashing. "JUST REACT!"

Roxas didn't say anything turning his head away and neither did Hayner, looking surprised he'd just said that and panting slightly. Hayner grabbed the chair beside Roxas, jerking it forward harshly, making it scrape against the floor, before sitting down heavily, raising a clenched hand against his forehead, and shutting his eyes. "I'm sorry," He said after a short pause, voice raspy and low. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take it out on you."

"Don't worry about it," Roxas mumbled, looking down the hallway to where a receptionist and what looked to be a couple of nurses had turned their heads, glancing at them strangely. "Just keep your voice down next time are they're going to throw us out."

Hayner let his hand fall from his forehead, snorting. "I'd like to see them try it." Then turned to Roxas, expression quickly turning serious. "It's only I hate not knowing what's going on, not being able to do anything." There was an expectant look in Hayner's eyes as if wanting Roxas to elaborate.

Roxas didn't rise to it, absently focusing his attention on his star shaped zipper, toying with the end. "You can you know."

"Can what?"

"Take it out on me. I wouldn't blame you if you did."

Hayner shook his head. "You know I wouldn't do that. I was…I was being stupid and besides that whatever happens we're still here together, you, me, and Olette."

Roxas sighed, slumping back in his chair. "Sure, so I'll tell you basically the same thing I told Olette. Focus on getting through this. Stay levelheaded. Breathe."

Hayner shifted away from Roxas, placing his elbow on the armrest, resting his chin in his hand. "Great advice." He replied dryly.

"What more do you want?"

Hayner was silent for a few minutes before moving back to face his friend, looking thoughtful, pensive. "Roxas, that thing that attacked Pence, you knew exactly what to do, how to kill it."

"I already told you." Roxas frowned, instantly on guard. "It's not important."

"But there's something going on." Hayner persisted. "Something dark, and the sky it's…" Hayner breathed deeply through gritted teeth, shoulders tensing. "Nothing's right and you know something don't you? More then what you're telling us."

"There is something," Roxas relented bitterly. "But I have to deal with it. Believe me when I say you're better off not knowing."

Hayner stared at him with an unreadable expression, the beginning of distrust forming in his eyes. "Roxas…" but whatever he was about to say was interrupted by a soft 'hey.'

Roxas jerked his head up, seeing Olette, her hand skimming against a wall as she came to stand in front of them, letting her hand drop and lowering her head as if finding something interesting on the floor.

Roxas automatically ran his eyes over her, taking her in. She looked unscathed except for her arm, which was in some type of brace, bounded tightly to the point where she couldn't move it. She was no longer trembling, no longer bleeding, back with them and for a moment everything felt right, for a moment Roxas almost turned his head, expecting to see Pence, hearing him say 'There was on reason to be worried, they knew she'd be fine all along' but Pence wasn't there, with his easy going laugh, his knack for noting the obvious, and his silent support, might not ever be again and finally Roxas felt the reality of the situation set in, lashing through him, stinging and piercing like the wintry rain he used to spend hours standing in back at The World That Never Was and it was all he could do not to drown.

Hayner instantly stood up, going to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Hey yourself." He said gently in a voice Roxas didn't even know he was capable of. "Are you alright?"

Olette stiffened, withdrawing from him, and stepping backwards. "I'm fine."

Hayner either didn't seem to care or didn't notice, glancing down at her arm. "Does it hurt?"

Olette was silent for a few minutes as if considering it. "It doesn't hurt as much now." She answered finally, lifting her damaged arm, as much as she was able. "They said that there was some…some nerve damage and that my hand would be numb and hard to move for awhile but they said I was very lucky, that if it would have been a little deeper that I could have…"

Olette didn't finish, walking around Hayner and sitting down beside Roxas. "Don't worry about me. It's nothing. It's nothing compared to what happened to Pence."

Roxas tilted his head, trying to see her face better. "You probably saved his life." It was the best thing he could think of to say to her, to support her.

Olette didn't even look at him. "No I didn't Roxas, you did. You knew how to help him and I couldn't even think right. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't shown up when you did."

"You would have done exactly the same thing." Roxas replied easily.

"But that thing…you killed it."

"And you chased it off."

Olette hunched her shoulders, looking down at her knees. "For all the good it did even if Pence survives nothing will be the same again, everything's changed."

"First of all he will survive so don't even think it." Hayner said firmly, crossing his arms and going to sit down on Roxas's other side. "Second, on matter what happens, it won't make any difference because we'll still be here for him."

Olette glanced at him, looking both vaguely guilty and hopeful. "Of course we will Hayner. You know we will."

Hayner attempted a smile but it fell flat so he only nodded.

"Have either of you heard anything then?" Olette asked. "On Pence."

"No" Hayner answered. "We know he's in surgery and I've been asking around, trying to find out what else is going on but so far no one has told us anything. What about you?"

Olette looked back down at her knees, skimming a finger along the edge of her shorts. "Same thing, he's in surgery but I saw his parents. They were crying" Olette took a shaky breath. "They wouldn't stop crying."

"Have you called your parents?" Roxas's eyes were still on Olette. "Their probably worried with how the sky's falling and everything."

Olette fisted her hands on top of her legs, shutting her eyes tightly, and shaking her head.

"Why not?"

"What do you think their going to do when they find out what's happened Roxas?" Olette shot back, surprisingly harsh.

Roxas didn't know what to say but Olette didn't seem to be expecting a reply as she moved her hand from her lap to grip the edge of her seat, suppressing a sob. "I know they have to be worried with how the sky is but they probably don't think it's that big of a deal right now, that it's only going to rain or something and that I'm still at the beach or left to go to a friend's house but if they knew what really happened to me they'd rush over. My mom would be so afraid, might overreact and my dad, he'd probably wouldn't let me stay here, lock his precious little girl up in a room somewhere, where I'd stay safe."

Olette gripped the edge of her seat harder, tears of frustration slipping from behind her closed eyes, her voice rising. "And I can't deal with it right now. I can't stand seeing them like that and I want to stay with you and Hayner. I need to stay for Pence, but my dad never liked me being friends with you two in the first place and he'd take me away. I know he would and…to be separated after everything that's happened…I don't think I can…I can't handle it!"

"Olette…" Roxas said softly, reaching up to touch her shoulder.

"Don't!" Olette flinched, jerking away from him but looked instantly apologetic when she saw his confusion. "I'm sorry Roxas but don't."

"No one is going to make you go anywhere." Hayner reached across Roxas, his hand curling slightly over Olette's wrist but this time she didn't pull away. "The three of us are together right now and that's how it's going to stay until this is over and if anyone says different then we'll sick Roxas on them."

Roxas snorted. "Thanks Hayner, for giving me the chance to accommodate you."

Hayner let go of Olette, stretching out his arms and slumping back against his chair. "Sure, anytime."

Olette didn't laugh but she smiled slightly, rubbing the tears away from her eyes. "Maybe that could work."

"Maybe?" Hayner questioned. "It will work so stop worrying about it already."

"Alright."

Hayner's plans about staying together were starting to make Roxas feel uneasy when he didn't know how much longer it would be until he was forced to leave but it was either leave or watch as Twilight Town was slowly consumed, watch as his friends died and Roxas had the sudden urge to move, to do something, anything to make Olette stop flinching away, to lose the guarded and panicked look in her emerald eyes that should never have been there, anything to erase the pain Hayner was desperately trying to hold back under a facade of anger and confidence that he didn't really have. Roxas wondered if he hadn't found Olette in that store at the mall, over nine months ago if any of this would have mattered to him, if he even would have cared, out of anyone he could have ran into it had to be Olette so it might have been fate in some twisted way.

Roxas was so lost in his thoughts that he hardly noticed a pink and white carnation being shoved right under his nose. "Condolences."

Roxas snapped his head up. Fun was leaning over him, smiling lightly which looked just strange on her. Seifer's gang was probably the last thing Roxas wanted to deal with right now but he absently took the flower. "What…?"

The silver haired girl stepped away from him, joined shortly by Seifer, Rai, and Vivi, coming from around a corner, Rai seeming a bit out of breath.

"What are you guys doing here?" Hayner glared but there wasn't anything behind the expression and his voice was only strained and hollow.

"What?" Seifer asked smugly, placing a hand on his hip, tilting his head, and smirking. "Can't a guy check up on his friends?"

"We're not friends." Hayner reminded him.

"Okay so, one enemy to another then," Seifer shrugged. "We heard something had happened to Pence and we're…"

"Sorry," Vivi cut in with his normal soft voice, making his way out from behind Rai's legs, glancing down at his clasped hands, his large pointed hat slipping in front of his yellow beacon like eyes, shielding his face. "We wanted to make sure everyone was alright and if there was anything we could do."

"Right what Vivi said," Seifer folded his arms in annoyance. "Even though I didn't need any help and that's word for word what I was going to say."

"Still would have taken you till next week y'know." Rai commented.

"Whatever."

Olette gave the black mage a faint smile for his efforts. "Thanks Vivi."

"Sure, Olette you know we would do everything we can to help you."

Rai turned his head, attention drawn to Olette as soon as she'd spoken, his eyes lingering over her, causing her to shift uncomfortably. "Dude, what happened to your arm?"

"Nothing, I'm-I'm fine."

"Nothing? That doesn't look like-"

"Leave her alone." Hayner said heatedly but his eyes were on Seifer instead of Rai. "How did you find out about Pence?"

"Well…" Seifer started. "We were in the neighborhood-"

"Right," Hayner rolled his eyes. "Because it's everyday the all mighty Seifer decides to visit a hospital."

"Hey, let me finish, you see Rai-

"You said you weren't going to tell anyone Seifer y'know." Rai breathed through gritted teeth.

"Really? I did?" Seifer lifted a hand to his face, resting his elbow in his palm, drumming his fingers against his cheek, looking like he was trying hard to remember before pausing in recognition. "Huh, that's right. So, anyway when the sky started getting weird Rai was so shocked he fell, only at the time he was standing on this stone platform about two inches up off the ground but somehow he still managed to hit his head."

Rai looked as if he seriously wanted to hurt the blonde. "Seifer! That's not what happened y'know. Besides you were the one who started-"

"And it made him paranoid." Seifer quickly added.

Roxas uncaringly glanced at Rai, who didn't have a scratch on him and hadn't been acting anything out of the ordinary. "He looks fine too me."

"Because I didn't hit my head y'know." Rai shot back

Fuu grinned, elbowing her larger friend. "Still funny."

"It won't be so funny," Rai mumbled, crossing his arms, and staring down at the floor. "When the front steps to your house are covered in engine grease."

Fuu nearly gasped, actually looking somewhat stunned before she turned her head to Seifer, narrowing her eyes accusingly. "Traitor Seifer."

The blonde sighed, motioning to Rai and Fuu with his thumb. "I swear I'll never understand those two."

Olette lowered her eyes, lips pressed together. "Please stop joking around," She said distantly. "You're not being serious and it's really not helping."

"I was only trying to lighten the mood," Seifer defended himself. "The three of you look so depressed it's draining and I was being serious, Rai really did fall off a platform but you're right that's not why we're here."

"And that would be again?" Hayner scowled. "Because I'm getting sick of looking at you."

"For the sake of peace I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." Seifer said lazily, rubbing the back of his neck. "Anyway we wanted to know what was going on with the town with the sky and casualty reports, and everything. We weren't intending to go to the hospital originally but we were talking to some people around town who had said they saw some ambulances going in the direction of your guy's Usual Spot, so we headed over there, to find the whole area closed off and we were kind of…" Seifer trailed off, looking as if he was trying to force the next word from his lips. "Concerned."

"We're real touched Seifer." Hayner bit out.

"Then we headed over to the hospital," Seifer said louder but wisely continued to ignore Hayner. "Talked to some of the staff who said a boy named Pence had been admitted, although no one would tell us what had happened, but then we found you three and it wasn't hard to put two and two together."

Olette had been listening intently, her eyes half lidded and her face tight in thought. "Seifer what do you mean by casualty reports?"

"You're kidding right?" Seifer asked, and really did look surprised. "Man, it's all over the news. Don't you guys ever watch T.V.?" Seifer turned his head, seeing the blank T.V. screen then quickly spotting the remote on the end table, he gabbed it, flicking the T.V. on. "Here listen."

Roxas didn't look at the screen but was instantly met with the worn and monotone voice of a news reporter, as they described in detail of people being found with all the same heart related injury, some who'd been reported missing, and others who claimed to have seen mysterious black creatures, the news then went on to talk about the sky and how it couldn't be rain since there was too high amount of electricity in the air, and that people needed to stay indoors.

Hayner and Olette watched as if they were in some type of trance but all of it only reminded Roxas of what he already knew, of what he didn't want to think about, and that his friends weren't the only ones in danger but so was everyone else. The urge to do something came back but this time it left him feeling cold, left him feeling a sense of dread that rushed through his mind as if wanting to rip a hole through his skull. "Turn it off Seifer."

"No," Seifer absently held up a hand, signaling for Roxas to stay quite without even turning around. "Hang on a second."

Roxas's eyes glinted, irritated and he lowered his voice. "I said. Turn. It. Off."

"Alright," Seifer glanced at him with a nervous tension before flipping the T.V. off and carelessly tossing the remote back on the end table where it knocked a magazine to the floor. "Calm down killer, jeeze I didn't know you had something against T.V."

"What happened to Pence?" Vivi quickly interjected. "We really didn't get any of the story. He's going to be okay isn't he?"

"He…he was attacked," Olette answered quietly. "Just like they were describing on the news. He's in surgery but it's bad…it's really bad."

Seifer frowned. "He was attacked? You mean by one of those black creatures…"

"Yes," Olette took a shaky breath. "We all saw Pence and this thing right afterwards and I was there when it happened….when it jumped on him."

Vivi's eyes widened, hugging himself, and shivering. "Are you three alright? How'd you escape?"

Olette looked worried, exchanging quick glances with Hayner and Roxas before Hayner spoke for them. "We didn't. It ran off."

Rai, Fuu, and Vivi were staring at them in a mixture of shock and horror, while Seifer turned his head away no longer being able to meet their eyes. "Look, I didn't know it was that bad. I thought the media had to be exaggerating to…I don't know scare us or something…we really are sorry."

"Pence'll pull through y'know." Rai managed to smile reassuringly.

"No doubt." Fuu echoed.

"Aren't you afraid?" Olette almost shouted, instantly looking surprised she'd spoken and lowering her eyes uneasily. "I mean with everything that's been…"

"I'm afraid," Vivi admitted, looking so lost that Olette painfully regretted asking.

"Terrified." Fuu said reluctantly, her body stiffening and trying to disguise it by closing her eyes away from them and pushing a loose strand of silver-blue hair back behind her ear.

"But there's no use planning out our doom y'know," Rai added.

"Right," Seifer said, sounding a lot more confident then he looked, spreading out his fingers and holding his hands up in front of himself. "Go with the flow."

"Umm…excuse me, you're Pence's friends right?"

All seven of them snapped their heads to the side, seeing a doctor that none of them had even heard approach. She looked young and very nervous, holding a clipboard against her chest in a death grip. "I have an update on his condition, and I can sit down and talk with you for as long as you'd like, answer any questions."

Olette managed to nod, she, Roxas, and Hayner, tensing and falling into uneasy silence.

Seifer stood stonily, lips slightly parted while Rai looked as if he was off in his own world.

"Awkward," Fuu took Rai's wrist, tugging at his arm so he'd follow her, before pointedly glancing at Seifer and pointing down the hallway with her free hand. "Leaving now."

Roxas never thought he'd be grateful to Fuu.

"Oh, right," Rai blinked, letting Fuu pull him and waving back to Roxas, Hayner, and Olette. "See ya later."

"I'm sure everything will be okay," Vivi tried to say cheerfully, hurrying to follow. "Take care of yourselves."

"Hey, whatever happens," Seifer turned away grudgingly but coolly with a self-satisfied smirk. "If there's anything we can do, just name it and after all this is over we'll take you out somewhere, alright? Anywhere at all."

"Sayonara." Fuu called from over her shoulder and then Seifer's gang was gone.

"So, what is it?" Hayner asked in a hard tone and Roxas could tell he was trying his best not to become defensive again.

"Right, well." The doctor cleared her throat, taking a free chair, moving it in front of them and sitting down, placing her clipboard on her lap. "The good news it that your friend made it out of surgery but…you have to understand the damage was very severe. The heart is such a complex organ and there were several complications. Right now he's in intensive care and..." She wrung her hands, looking for all the world that she wanted to be somewhere else then confronting three kids. "You see…ummm."

"Don't sugar coat it." Hayner said roughly.

She took a sharp deep breath, swallowing thickly. "The chances of him making it through the next few hours are slim, very slim. I'd say no more then fifty percent and even if he does make it, life for him will never be the same again. He'll be confined to a wheelchair, need constant blood transfusions…"

She went on, describing in more scientific terms what else Pence would need, exactly what the damage to his heart had been, and a few alternatives that could be taken but Roxas didn't hear, drowning all of it out. No amount of fancy wording was going to change anything and Roxas only felt numb again, let his mind drift if only to put some sort of distance between himself and the situation, but then a cold tingling sensation ran up and down his spine and he soon realized it wasn't because of anything the doctor was saying.

He could sense another presence, felt something move in the hallway. He turned his head slowly to the side, so he didn't draw attention to himself. The hallway was empty but the feeling only intensified, almost like he was being watched, leaving him highly on edge but still it was familiar somehow, something elusive he wanted to grasp a hold of and he let his eyes scan the wall, the corners, for anything, before he thought he caught a glimpse of blonde hair.

_Naminé. _The name ran through Roxas's head and he had to fight not to say it aloud, but Roxas wasn't sure if he'd actually saw her or if it was just his mind playing tricks on him but he had learned long ago in order to stay alive not to ignore his impulses. He wanted to go after her, if it had been her, but he couldn't, not yet and remained motionless, eyes still fixed on the hallway.

"Can we see him?" It was Olette's voice that brought him back.

"No, I'm sorry but only family is allowed to see him now unless his condition improves."

"That's not fair." Hayner stated and Roxas could almost hear his friend's mind turning. _We're his friends we need to see him before it might be too late, at least one last time. _Even if Hayner could never bring himself to admit it out loud.

"I would let you if it were up to me but those are the rules and…" She sighed, absently running a hand through her dark hair. "Look there's a waiting room just down the hallway and to the right. It's a lot more comfortable then out here. The cafeteria would have just closed by now but…"

"We're fine." Hayner answered.

"Is there anyone you'd like me to call?" She stood up, moving her chair back against the wall. "Your parents maybe?"

"We're fine." Hayner repeated.

"Alright" She moved to leave a little reluctantly but getting Hayner's hint to be left alone. "I'll let you know if there's any change in his condition."

Something suddenly flashed across Hayner's face, conflicting and perceptive like he was about to uncover the truth but feared what he would find. "Wait."

The doctor glanced back at him. "Yes."

"Have there been any others?"

"Others?"

"That came in like Pence."

"A couple," She relented bleakly. "I'm not at liberty to discuss that but if it hadn't been for our prior knowledge your friend…" She didn't finish, her eyes shinning with distress, clasping her hands tightly together to keep them from shaking, then trying to cover it with an anxious smile. "I'll let you know if there's any change," She repeated quickly, walking away without looking back.

The three of them were alone again, sitting together in thick silence, Olette staring emptily at the wall that Roxas had been at earlier. She looked defeated as if she'd given up on something, her last remaining hope being ripped away. Hayner had his palms pressed against his chair, eyes clenched shut, and then he did the one thing Roxas never expected to see, he rose a leg onto his chair, pressed his forehead against his knee, curling his arms around his leg. Hayner cried.

Hayner didn't cry, Hayner never cried even when they had all been kneeled around Pence he hadn't lost control, kept mainly focused, not when his mother didn't show up for weeks at a time, or when his hair was disheveled and eyes unfocused from not sleeping, not when he'd gotten that split lip. Hayner never cried but now he was, his breathing soft but slightly jerky and if Roxas hadn't been sitting so close to him he probably wouldn't have been able to tell.

It was something Roxas had never been able to do. He could feel something behind his eyes grow hot, feel them sting and there had been another time he felt the same sensation although he'd forgotten the reason why but he remembered he'd even tried to force the tears from his eyes but they never came just like now nothing ever came.

Roxas looked down to his hands where the carnation he didn't even realize he was still holding was crushed and sweaty between his fingers. Absently, he began picking at the petals, slowly tearing them off, letting them drift to the floor until only the green stalk remained, letting that fall to the floor too. "So, I guess we're spending the night here? I think I saw the waiting room she was talking about when we first came in."

Neither Hayner or Olette answered him.

"I remember seeing this vending machine somewhere close by too." Roxas tried again. "We should probably eat something." 

Hayner snapped his head up, rubbing forcefully at his eyes, which were faintly red, the only evidence he'd been crying, flashing them towards Olette. "Are you hungry Olette?"

Olette didn't look at him folding one arm against her stomach as if she was trying to protect herself. "Hayner stop, Roxas is only trying to help and honestly I can't even tell but maybe we should eat something."

"I'll get us something." Roxas said, standing up, glad for something to do. "Meet me in the waiting room." He didn't wait for a reply, making his way through the hallway, focused on moving forward.

It didn't take him long to find the vending machine but he stood blankly in front of it for a few minutes before it occurred to him to put some munny in, taking out some of what he had saved for the beach but obviously didn't need any longer, he slipped it into the slot, pressing some random buttons. He thought about going back to where he felt the presence but soon dismissed it, his friends were waiting for him, needed him, it felt nice to be needed, to be wanted in some way and Roxas grabbed an armful of chips and candy bars, heading towards the waiting room.

The waiting room was a lot nicer then the hallway, with blue carpeting, a couch, large cushioned chairs, and even a larger table with more magazines. Roxas was reassured when he saw Olette and Hayner were the only ones there and that they had the place to themselves. Hayner was on one of the chairs, rigid and unmoving, his feet propped up against the table and Olette was in the middle of the couch, holding her head, her clawed arm limply at her side, looking somewhere between solemn and terrified, much the same way she'd been in the hallway. Roxas set what he had on the table, sitting down beside Olette. Her eyes flicked to him but she didn't respond further and Hayner muttered a 'welcome back' then the silence continued, the snacks going untouched.

Somewhere in the next few hours Hayner and Olette had managed to fall asleep, both completely shattered, Hayner sprawled out awkwardly on the chair, head pillowed on his arm. Olette had shifted so her head was on Roxas's shoulder and he could feel her warm even breathing against his neck, her soft hair against his cheek, her slight weight almost comforting.

Roxas stared at the ceiling wide awake, judging by now it was safe to leave, search for Naminé or whatever it had been if they were still even there, Roxas carefully slipped away from Olette somehow managing not to wake her and left the room.

The hallway was darker as a few of the lights had been turned off, empty, still, and Roxas didn't see anything unusual.

"Naminé" He called softly, as he turned a corner, making his way further down, back to where he'd been earlier with Hayner and Olette. That was where he found her, curled in on herself on a single chair, legs dangling off the edge but with her knees drawn up to her stomach, her head against the armrest, blonde hair spilling over the edge, eyes lightly closed. She looked so uncomfortable that she nearly reminded him of Hayner. In spite of everything Roxas felt a small smile tugging at his lips. It had been too long since he'd seen her last and his throat tightened, glad that if only for the moment he was with her again.

Roxas kneeled beside her, gently shaking her shoulder. "Hey, wake up."

Naminé blinked her eyes opened sleepily, smiling at him. "Hi Roxas" Then her expression changed to worry as she became fully awake, hastily sitting up. "Oh Roxas, I'm sorry! I didn't…I can leave if you don't want me here."

Roxas shook his head, climbing to his feet, sitting next to her. "No, it's nothing like that. I'm glad you're here."

Naminé looked taken back for a moment. "But I didn't mean for you to see me."

"I barely saw you. I wasn't even sure it was you."

Naminé nodded, taking a deep breath, her eyes shinning wetly. "It's just I didn't want to interfere with anything but I wanted to be here in case… in case you needed… if things…I mean I'm sorry. I'm so sorry about your friend."

Roxas turned his head until he was looking fully at her. "How did you know?"

Naminé looked away nervously. "I just knew. I could feel it kind of and DIZ had equipment to monitor worlds, and heartless activity before he left he restored some of it and when today I saw what happened to Twilight Town I-"

"Don't worry about it," Roxas cut her off. "I don't really care anyway as long as you're here."

He could see Naminé smile faintly, even though she didn't turn back to look at him but she absently placed her hand on top of his.

Her hand felt warm, and soft, and light just like he remembered and he turned his own over, tightly interlacing their fingers. "I don't understand why did it have to be Pence?"

"Why does it have to be anyone?" Naminé asked seriously.

Roxas squeezed her hand, staring out in front of him, breath hitching. "I don't know."

"But it always will be won't it? Someone, until…" Naminé said softly but more to herself, and Roxas could feel her arm tense, looking as if she was trying to work something out in her mind. "Roxas, please you need to leave here. Twilight Town's not going to hold together much longer."

"So leave Hayner and Olette" Roxas replied bitterly. "Run away again, keep skipping worlds until there's nothing left? I'm so sick of running Naminé."

"But there's no other choice." Naminé spun to him, gripping his hand in both of hers. "If you want to remain yourself, you can't stay here, you won't be able to change anything, only be pulled down too and I've already lost so much. Sometimes I feel like your all I have left. Roxas, I don't want to lose you too."

Naminé didn't seem at all like she regretted saying it and Roxas could feel her eyes burning into the side of his neck but he wasn't focused on her, her confession didn't mean much anyway when they weren't supposed to feel anything and Naminé still felt so distant to him and yet he felt he knew everything about her at the same time.

She did act the most human out of all of them like there was something more to her. Roxas had even seen her cry but she wasn't acting on true emotions, like Saïx said once it was only what her mind told her she should be feeling, what she remembered from Kairi, without a heart there was nothing, still sometimes it was easy to forget that inside she was supposed to be as empty and hollow as he was but Pence, Hayner, and Olette had hearts and Hayner and Olette at least had their whole futures ahead of them when Roxas didn't, his path was cast in nothing but shadow and he was chained to it. His friends could move on without him, they may not like it but they could move on. "Did you know in two more months it's my birthday?"

Naminé blinked. "Your birthday?"

"Yeah, Pence, Hayner, and Olette asked me when it was and I told them I didn't remember so Pence made one up for me, two weeks after the day we all met each other. He said they were going to throw me a real party with cake, presents, and sea salt ice cream. He was always doing things like that, trying to help everybody else. He was the one that kept us together."

"He sounds very nice."

Roxas could still hear DIZ's voice; _You were never supposed to exist. You are nothing, a mistake. The only way you can amount to anything is to join with Sora. _If all that was true, if what Saïx said was true then why did he fight so hard to break the chains, to change his fate, to stay alive. It was one thing he could never figure out. "If Pence dies. It will all be my fault. I told Hayner and Olette I'd protect them but I can't. I'm Roxas, Number XIII, element: light, and the keyblade's reject, I can't seal worlds, I can't stop Twilight Town from falling, no matter what I do I'll never be able to save them."

"You feel trapped." Naminé said quietly and Roxas could tell there was something deeper to her words as if she was still trapped in Castle Oblivion. "Like there's no way out."

"But there is a way out isn't there?"

"Maybe there always is even if it's not what you expect it to be."

Roxas took his hand back from Naminé, lifting it in front of his face, staring at his opened palm. Naminé was right she'd always been right, he couldn't change anything at least as long as he was only half of himself, but Sora could save the universe, he himself could save the universe, save Hayner and Olette. There was still time if only he could force himself to let go. "I hold half of what he is and without me…" Against his own will Roxas felt his mouth move as if someone else was speaking for him. "I'll do it, I'll awaken Sora."

He looked at Naminé for a reaction but she jerked away, didn't say anything. "What is it? I thought that's what you wanted."

"I'm not sure anymore." Naminé hugged herself. "But that doesn't matter. The choice isn't up to me and it's not what you want."

"Of course it isn't." Roxas snapped.

Naminé turned back to him and Roxas could see shinning through her eyes that she only wanted to understand. "Then why?"

Roxas didn't even have to think about the answer. There were times with Hayner, Pence, and Olette, laughing with them, just being with them that he could lose himself, could forget the world, even without the keyblade or the fighting, forget there was nothing in his chest except for a cold mass of darkness. Roxas hadn't even known that was possible. "Because for the first time ever I felt like I've belonged somewhere. I have friends that care if I live or die and it's for who I am not what I can do. To save them I'd give up everything."

"Are you sure about this?" Naminé asked neutrally.

Roxas had to swallow back the bitter laughter. "No, not really." Then locked his eyes with hers, the thought of fading away was so terrifying it was unimaginable so he didn't think about it, concentrated on Naminé as if she was the one thing that could save him from slipping into the darkness. "But I know I don't want to go alone. Will you be there with me?"

Roxas felt a light touch at his arm. "I'll be there." Before Naminé quickly withdrew, casting her eyes downward guiltily, twisting her fingers in her lap.

"What's wrong?"

Naminé pushed her hair back behind her shoulder, looking as if she was trying to hold back a sob. "Roxas if this is going to happen there's something that I've wanted to ask you but I don't want to bring it up now….I'm so sorry I should have said something earlier."

Everything even his own thoughts seemed to fade away, felt blurry, leaving only the blonde haired girl beside him, what she was thinking, going through. "What is it?"

"What do you think happens to us if our other's die?"

Roxas didn't expect the question and he didn't understand the reason for it. "I don't know and I don't want to find out either. How come?"

"Kairi's in trouble. I've been keeping track of Destiny Islands, it's going to crash again, only hanging on by a thread, I don't even think Sora can get there in time." Naminé pressed a hand against her forehead. "Sometimes if I focus hard enough it's almost like I can feel her. She knows what's going to happen and no one believes her but she's determined, trying to find a way out, only there isn't one, everything there will be lost to the darkness."

A part of Roxas couldn't believe she'd been going through this and he didn't know how long it had been going on for either but he wasn't surprised. Naminé never voiced anything, she'd learned to suffer silently. "So go after her." He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Naminé squeezed her eyes shut. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"Even if I did she'd never leave the friends she has there behind and besides that where would we go?" Naminé's voice rose urgently. "What would we do? When Sora wakes up everything will be thrown into chaos and I can't protect her. I'm not a fighter. I'm not like you."

Roxas thought back to what he knew of Castle Oblivion and realized Axel wasn't the only nobody to make it out alive, Naminé had too, stood up against the organization, the ones that had tormented her at the risk of her own life, if she chose too she could completely destroy someone's mind with a mere thought, a crayon, and a piece of paper, she probably had even more power flowing through her veins then he did, she'd spent most of her short life being isolated, and never once did she ever give up, ever let go. "You're a lot stronger then what you give yourself credit for."

Naminé shook her head. "I can't."

Something Axel said, suddenly came back to him. _If you need anything at all, come find me. _"Hey," Roxas grinned. "Maybe Axel could."

"Axel?"

"Right," Roxas continued. "He never could say no to me and he'd get to her in time right? Be able to protect her."

Roxas could see Naminé seriously thinking it over as if she wanted to believe but still something was making her hesitate. "You'd have to go back."

"I'll be alright."

"It's too dangerous." Naminé responded. "If they find you, you know they wouldn't even hesitate to kill you."

"They won't find me if I don't want to be found." Roxas replied firmly. "And when you think about it what other choice do we have? Kairi doesn't even know I exist but she's still important to me, important to you, and I'd risk a lot more to save her."

Naminé didn't say anything, breathing sharply, hunching her shoulders, fisting her hands against her legs.

"Just give me until tomorrow," Roxas tried to assure her even when he seriously had doubts about how well this was going to work out but still it was at least something he needed to try. "To talk to Axel, and say goodbye to Hayner and Olette, and I'll meet you in that lab. Tomorrow morning I'll be there."

Naminé slowly lifted her head, smiling slightly. "Alright, I believe in you."

Roxas returned her smile when he felt a familiar and stinging pain tear through his head, forcing him to grit his teeth to keep from crying out, his vision becoming blurry, fading to black, and then he was falling, the hospital floor coming up to meet him.

Vaguely he could sense Naminé moving, trying to catch him. "Roxas!"

_He was drifting in darkness but flying toward a blinding golden light, its rays cutting through the darkness like lightening. The next instant he was in a library with shelves and rows of books that looked to be nearly never ending. He was floating near the ceiling, could see the redheaded girl on a pale green floor. She looked much younger then he remembered but he couldn't see her face, she was facing a table, her back towards him, he reached out to grab her._

_He was in an obscured room, filled with machinery, steam shooting from it in waves and sparking with blue electricity. A large heart shaped arch was ahead, glowing dimly, a glinting murky blackness behind it, steps leading to it but he was only focused on the redheaded girl lying in the center of a cold brown floor, her head pushed aside as if she was nothing more then asleep. He ran to her._

_He was standing on a platform, suspended in mid air, framed by a brown arch, blue walls, and a dusky sky. He was holding the keyblade, the silver haired teen was a few feet in front of him, hand outstretched. "It's up to me. Only the Keyblade master can open the secret door and change the world."_

_The keyblade shook and he couldn't hold onto it as it vanished from him, reappearing in the silver haired teen's hands, who gave a triumphant smile._

_He reached the redheaded girl, kneeled beside her._

_He was in some type of large murky blue and brown entrance hall of a castle, two sets of steps leading to some place unknown. The silver haired teen was there but he looked different, eyes glazed over, wearing clothing of black and deep blue, a black and red heart, the symbol of the heartless etched onto his chest, but the duck and the dog were with him and he stood facing the three of them alone. He realized shortly he was frozen, couldn't move but the duck and dog didn't offer him any help. The silver haired teen formed a sphere of blue and white light in his hand, shooting it at him but before it could hit the dog rushed in front of him, deflecting the attack with his shield. "But I'm not gonna betray Sora, either."_

_The duck came back over to them. "All for one and one for all."_

_The keyblade left the silver haired teen's hand, reappearing back in his. The duck and the dog took up a fighting stance behind him. "My friends are my power!"_

_He took the redheaded girl's shoulders, partially lifting her up off the floor but she didn't respond, not knowing what else to do he shook her but she felt like dead weight, her head rolling limply backwards._

_He was back inside the entrance hall. A beast was there, hunched over with sharp claws, curling black horns, jagged brown fur, and a cape of dark purple tied around his neck, staring at him in approval. "So, your heart won this battle."_

_He nodded, smiling._

_He was inside a dark room with tones of purple and blue, but he could see a glowing yellow sky through several holes in the walls. A cloaked figure walked up to him, passing right through him, making him fall backwards onto the ground. The figure suddenly turned, releasing a large wave of blue energy and he barely had enough time to block, static power connecting them in a twisting current before he deflected it, sending it crashing high into a wall, the room shaking as debris started to fall around them. The figure didn't react but he glared._

_He was back in the room with the machinery. The silver haired teen was on the steps, holding a dark keyblade, and he was kneeled before him. "It is I, Ansem, lead me into everlasting darkness!"_

_In the next instant the silver haired teen moved to strike and for a moment he thought everything was over but the redheaded girl's voice broke through to him, shouting his name. "Sora!" _

_An image of her flashed in front of his eyes._

_At the last second he stood, raising his keyblade, blocking the blow, pushing the silver haired teen away from him, voice rising in anger. "Forget it! There's no way you're taking Kairi's heart!"_

_The silver haired teen was gone but the dark keyblade, the keyblade with the ability to unlock hearts was still there, left behind, forgotten. He went to pick it up, holding it in front of his face, studying it, the dog and duck, watching him with expressions of shock and worry and he smiled widely at them before plunging the keyblade into his own chest. It didn't hurt like he imagined it would but he could feel the metal slide into his heart before the keyblade completely vanished and the captive hearts of the princesses were released from within him. He could feel himself falling backwards, knew he was fading, disappearing. The redheaded girl's heart came back to her and she opened her eyes, sitting up, running to him but she didn't make it in time._

_He could tell he was back in the entrance hall but he wasn't himself, everything felt strange, distorted and his thoughts were fuzzy. He was with the redheaded girl, the duck, and the dog, somehow able to tell they were in danger but the redheaded girl turned to him, throwing her arms around him, protecting him. He was engulfed in a blinding light as he came back to himself, knowing it was because of her and all he could do was hold her. "Kairi."_

_Everything became cast in white, the redheaded girl the only one there, she smiled at him._

_He was in a hallway of the castle with blue and gray railing and a stairway leading off to the side. The guy with the leather and the girl with the long chestnut ponytail were there, standing in front of him._

_The guy had his arms crossed, letting them fall to his sides. "We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other."_

_The girl placed a hand to her chest. "No matter where we are, our hearts will bring us together again."_

_He was outside but there was a doorway off to the side and everything was cast in tones of black, brown, and yellow like he was in some type of cavern. The redheaded girl was with him, both of them standing on rocks above water._

_She took his hand, placing a five pointed charm in his palm. "Take this." She then leaned forward, narrowing her eyes. "It's my lucky charm. Be sure to bring it back to me."_

_He closed his hand tightly around the charm. "Don't worry. I will."_

_She smiled at him. "Promise."_

_He was surrounded in black and the only thing he could see was a keyhole, pulsing and glowing violet, he moved to seal it but he could still hear her voice. "Don't ever forget. Wherever you go, I'm always with you."_

Roxas's eyes fluttered open and he realized he was kneeling on the hospital floor. Naminé was beside him, her hands on his shoulders. "Roxas, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He sat up straighter, moving slightly away from her but making no attempt to get up off the floor.

"More memories about Sora?"

Roxas nodded, pushing his hair away from his face, Sora's memories were really starting to become annoying, especially for twice in one day but then something struck him and he could feel the answers he'd been searching for finally start to come together, as if a missing link had just been snapped back into place. He jolted his head up, his eyes flashing to Naminé as if he'd never seen her before. "I know how it happened."

"Happened?"

"How I was born." Roxas said in a rush. "After Kairi lost her heart it was locked inside of Sora's and he sacrificed himself to restore hers by piercing his own heart with a keyblade. He became a heartless but Kairi brought him back." Roxas scrunched his eyes in thought. "But for you it's strange since Kairi never became a heartless, just fell into a coma. It's almost like you were created from the both of them."

"I always knew I was different, that I wasn't born like other nobodies." Naminé said unconcerned. "DIZ and the organization told me often enough and I've been able to use that to my advantage but the details surrounding my creation or what it all means, some of it I'm still fuzzy on."

"Maybe it's why you have control over Sora's memories." Roxas offered. "Or why…somehow it seems as if you really can feel."

"Or why I've always been the outcast, why I'm the witch." Naminé finished.

Roxas was instantly afraid he'd hurt her but Naminé instead pressed the back of her hand to her mouth, trying to cover up a smile. "I'm sorry Roxas. I said that wrong. I don't mind."

"Then why…?"

"I was thinking, Sora risked everything to save his friends and so are you, maybe the two of you are more similar then you might think."

Roxas could understand why Sora had done it, the need to save Kairi and awaken the other princesses and his sacrifice had been almost admirable but still it was careless almost selfish in a way and now Roxas was left to deal with the aftermath, to pick up the pieces and even though he could understand it, it didn't change anything. Sora was impulsive, with little regard for anything, willing to throw his life away on a split second decision. They weren't alike, they would never be alike. "Don't compare me to him."

Roxas could see Naminé's instant regret as she lowered her head. "You're right, I'm-"

"And stop saying you're sorry." Roxas added, smirking.

Naminé laughed slightly, her eyes meeting his.

Then Roxas could hear the echo of footsteps from somewhere down the hallway like someone was running and Olette's voice from not too far off. "Roxas!"

"It sounds like your friends are looking for you."

Roxas stood up along with Naminé, glancing over his shoulder. "I have to get back."

"I know."

Roxas turned back to Naminé not wanting to lose contact with her completely. He wasn't worried about going back to The World That Never Was or seeing Axel again, didn't feel much about it at all but out there all it would take was one mistake for everything to come crashing down and Roxas couldn't afford that now, not when everything was tied to him. "Tomorrow, I'll be there. No matter what I'll be there."

Naminé didn't even give it a second thought. "I'll see you later then."

"Until that time." Roxas returned automatically.

He half walked, half ran down the hallway. "Olette" He shouted, turning a corner and there she was, standing a few feet away, grasping the collar of her shirt, tears streaming down her face and Roxas felt dread tear into his stomach, his every thought wrapped around Pence. If Pence didn't make it, Roxas hadn't thought much about how he'd deal with it or what Hayner and Olette would have to go through but he knew he wasn't ready to hear it, needed more time, couldn't tear the whispering voice from his mind, telling him this was all his fault. He wanted to say something but it was like his throat was fused together and all he could do was watch Olette, waiting for her to tell him it was over.

But it never came, Olette ran to him, stopping only a few inches in front of him. "We were looking for you." She chocked and then Roxas saw she was smiling through the tears.

Hayner came down the hallway a moment later, looking smug. "Seriously, what's so great that you have to wonder the halls in the middle of the night."

Everything was fine. Roxas could feel the sheer relief wash over him, felt shaky, wanted to laugh.

"He made it through the worst of it." Olette answered the unasked question. "He's stabilized enough where they're going to take us to see him."

"See, what did I tell you?" Hayner said lazily, stretching out his arms.

This time Roxas did laugh, hardly realizing when Hayner clasped his shoulder. It was just the three of them, they were together, and nothing else mattered not even the world falling outside because at least for now everything was okay and it felt clear to Roxas why he was willing to go through with this, to finish this.

"Come on, I'll take you to see your friend." The same doctor from earlier broke through to them as she entered the hallway, looking somewhat out of breath as if she'd been following Hayner and Olette around.

They were led to a different floor, to a large room and the doctor motioned to a closed door, warning them what to expect but she didn't enter, standing outside to talk to some other hospital staff and an older couple Roxas briefly recognized as Pence's parents.

Hayner opened the door and there was Pence in a too large room and a too large bed. His breathing soft and low, not the strained gasping Roxas remembered from earlier or the terrifying moment when he stopped breathing altogether but that seemed to be the only improvement. Pence didn't look like Pence, his skin pasty and swollen, eyes closed, hair matted with sweat, sticking against his forehead. Deep red and brown raised lines were spread out across his skin from incisions, a tube was in his nose, in his mouth, tubes, wires, and IVs from everywhere and the soft and regular beeping of a heart monitor.

Roxas froze, couldn't bring himself to step into the room and then Olette proved herself to be much braver in that moment then he ever could have been. She didn't see the wires or the scars, she just saw Pence and she automatically went to him, took his hand, kneeled beside him. Hayner soon followed her, standing next to her, laying his hand on the bed by Pence's arm, saying something to Olette that Roxas couldn't hear. Neither one glanced back at him.

They would have made the perfect picture Roxas thought if circumstances had been different; Hayner, Pence, and Olette without him like it should have been. He felt alone, closed off, watching a life unfold in front of his eyes that he wanted but was never really his. He was on the outside, would always be on the outside, about to go back to the cold, to the darkness while Hayner and Olette remained blissfully unaware. It was just as he realized in Hayner's bathroom; he could pretend but he'd never belong, and as much as it tore, and hurt, and ripped away at him, he couldn't change it.

Roxas stopped trying to force himself to move, just turned and left before Hayner or Olette had the chance to notice he was gone, back to The World That Never Was, back to nothing. Axel, Riku, Sora, Naminé, now Hayner, Pence, and Olette. He'd always been good at walking away.

0o0o0o0

Notes: I'm probably going to start doing these at the end now. Anyway next chapter, Roxas confronts Axel for the first time in nine months, find out what the organization's been up to, Roxas sort of has second thoughts about merging, plus other things. Should be good I hope.

It might take me a little longer to update this since I'm now going to school full time and also working full time and there's also another Kingdom Hearts fic I've kind of been working on but I'm going to try my best to update this as regularly as I can. See you next time!


	13. Shattered Promise

_We could change the world  
_

_Do anything you want_

Chapter 11: Shattered Promise

It felt strange wearing the Organization XIII robe again. Roxas had long ago washed the blood from it. For some reason something had held him back from getting rid of it completely but as soon as he'd gotten his own place he had balled it up and thrown it to the back of his closet where he'd never have to look at it again. Now here he was wearing it, the hood pulled up tightly over his head, the thick gloves feeling stiff covering his hands, and the heavy leather boots feeling harder to walk in then what he remembered.

The World That Never Was hadn't changed but then it never changed, exactly as he remembered it, dark with flashing street signs, buildings of steel and glass, deprived of life. It was cold with wind lashing at his back and whipping his hood against his face, meaning it was going to rain soon. For the first time Roxas could feel the deadly atmosphere, could nearly taste the raw tension with each breath. Once he'd been apart of the organization, had carried out missions like anyone else, amazed the others, even joked around with a few of them, was Xemnas's favorite, and now he was their traitor, couldn't have been more separate. All it would take was one glance for him to be found out, to be thrown into an instant fight for his life but like on the day he left, it didn't bother him and all he found himself thinking about was how uncomfortable he felt wearing the robe.

Axel would basically be impossible to find, then there was always the chance he was out on a mission somewhere. Roxas didn't have anywhere to start. He thought about slipping back into the castle, back into his old room or Axels' whichever he was able to get to first and go from there but the thought of seeing the castle again, left him on edge and he couldn't figure out the reason. There had never been anything there for him and his own room if it was still his room was nothing more then blank white, only had the basic necessities. Roxas had always looked to the outside to get away, to the rain, preferred to stay cut off from the others where he didn't have to think, where he could pretend that he was actually something, that he wasn't alone, where if he closed his eyes he could nearly taste the unknown, hear pieces of his heart whispering to him. Roxas shook the thought away, not wanting to go there, when he might as well have been Xemnas's mindless puppet, before he sought the truth, before he knew Hayner, Pence, and Olette existed.

He felt as if he'd been walking in circles, each street seeming virtually the same. Roxas told himself he was beyond getting lost but it had felt so long since he'd been here, and not for the first time he thought about turning back, had to keep reminding himself why he was doing this, for Kairi.

He kept moving forward the last thing he wanted at the moment was to stand still, his hand trailing against a concrete wall of an alleyway where the shadows obscured his every feature and then there it was, the castle. Roxas had to bite his tongue to keep silent because what he was seeing couldn't have been real. Where his room had been was nothing but a charred hole as if something had tore through it, tried to rip it apart. A whole portion of the castle had collapsed, leaving only a skeletal frame and chunks of fragmented glass and steel that glinted eerily in the pink moonlight. There had been what looked like several attempts to repair the damage but it was fast and crude, making the castle look even more twisted and deformed then it had been before, as if being left to slowly rot. Roxas didn't understand how this could have happened as far as he knew the castle was virtually indestructible.

He didn't have a chance to think about it before he heard footsteps and quickly pressed himself against a wall. An organization member walked out just feet in front of him, face concealed by the hood. For a moment Roxas hoped it was Axel, even if it was almost too easy.

The figure stopped short, crossing his arms, tapping his foot impatiently before throwing his hood back, revealing a long brown ponytail with tan highlights, and a familiar eye patch. Roxas suppressed the urge to sigh, Xigbar.

Xigbar narrowed his one visible eye, scanning the seemingly empty street. "Hurry up old man!"

Instantly, there was a portal and then Luxord was facing him with a raised eyebrow. "Old? I wouldn't be the one talking Xigbar."

"I'm not in the mood to be arguing today, after being jerked around from mission after mission by his royal highness and now I have patrol duty." Xigbar stretched his arms, cracking his knuckles, yawning loudly. "I'm so god damn tired."

"Then I regret I'll be leaving you momentarily." Luxord returned dryly.

"Man, don't tell me he's gotten to you too."

Luxord nodded.

"I can't believe this. I'm beginning to think Roxas had the right idea." For a moment Roxas thought Xigbar could see him, his one eye turning towards him, gleaming in the darkness, lips curling into a smile. Roxas held his breath, his fingers digging into the wall, but Xigbar only stepped around Luxord, quickly walking down the street. "The kid must be having the time of his life right now or at least anything's better then dealing with the superior and his insanity. I tell you it almost makes me miss the good old days."

Luxord quickened his pace. "Good old days?"

"Right, keep forgetting you weren't there. You know working under Ansem the Wise." Xigbar lifted the palm of his hand to his forehead and groaned. "I never thought I hear myself say that. I must be getting desperate."

"Xigbar, I understand that its been-"

"Relax, I was just kidding." The free shooter laughed lightly, clapping Luxord on the back, hard enough to make him stumble. "If you ask me Xaldin and I should get more respect around here, being the only sane ones left of the original six and all." He then frowned in thought. "Hey, who did you say was taking your place?"

"I didn't and Axel."

Xigbar snickered. "Well, that's just great. I was starting to get kind of board no offense to you are anything but you know how Axel's been ever since the kid left."

"None taken but I'm afraid I don't comprehend. You mean anti social and irritable?"

"Nah, I'm just saying this night could prove to be interesting yet."

Luxord grinned faintly, eyes shinning. "Want to wager on that?"

"Don't even start-"

Roxas lost track of the conversation, dropping back and following them at more of a distance. He was good at concealing himself, knew how to move without making a sound, but still that call with Xigbar had been too close. Normally, it wouldn't have fazed him but he couldn't tear Pence from his mind, knew his friends were depending on him, Naminé was waiting on him. He had the information he needed and that was what mattered, realized again he'd gotten lucky, would see Axel soon. What had happened to the castle wasn't important, what Axel had gone through after he left wasn't important.

Time was lost to him like it always was here but he could still make out the castle in the distance and it didn't feel very long before Axel arrived and Luxord disappeared but in contrast to what Xigbar had said, nothing interesting happened. Roxas could barely hear the buzz of their voices as they said something to each other in greeting but that was it, then they thoroughly ignored each other.

Roxas was left with the problem on how to get Axel's attention without being noticed by Xigbar so he switched tactics, trailing Axel at a closer range, intentionally making noise, kicking rocks almost against the redhead's heel, scrapping his fingernails against streetlights. He knew it was careless but it was the fastest and easiest way he could think of, plus he was growing impatient, wanted this over with, and he didn't intend to follow Axel the whole night either. If Axel refused to help him he had to move on, come up with something else but it didn't take Axel long to get the hint as he broke off from Xigbar, muttering 'I'm taking a detour', and walking down a side street into another dark and twisting alleyway until he was as nearly hidden in the shadows as Roxas was. "Whoever's there show yourself unless you want to know what a torch feels like."

Roxas jumped down from a low ledge into the dim light of the street, directly in front of Axel, walking up to him. The redhead's eyes narrowed, watching his every move, but there was a slight trace of recognition on his face and Roxas guessed that maybe he already knew but the feeling of detachment that Roxas had ever since he'd gotten here, that he'd been relying on to get himself to this point, as if this were nothing more then another mission, was starting to disintegrate. He had to force his hands not to shake and it felt slower then it should have been as he reached up to pull his hood back, letting it fall to his shoulders. "It's me."

For a moment Roxas could see something flicker behind Axel's hardened green eyes; doubt, worry, something heated, thrilling, and defiant all at the same time like somehow the redhead had just gotten a fraction of his heart back but as quickly at it came it was gone. Axel remained stoic and unmoving. "Roxas you shouldn't be here." And that was it.

Roxas wasn't sure what he was expecting, or if he was expecting anything at all but somewhere he knew he was disappointed. Axel had claimed they were best friends, even Xigbar and Luxord implied Axel had missed him, and besides Xemnas he'd been the first Roxas had formed any sort of connection with. After what they'd gone through together, after being separated for so long he had wanted something, anything more and no matter how many times he'd told himself that none of this mattered, Roxas realized it hadn't been enough. He felt distant, like he was falling without an anchor. He was going to give himself over for Sora, going to die, really going to die, and Axel didn't see. He wanted to shout, to scream, to let go, at Axel, at anything but his face remained carefully expressionless. "I need your help."

"I'm not interested." Axel wasn't even looking at him, his eyes off to the side.

"But you said-"

"I know what I said. Things change," Axel cut him off, walking away. "Get out of here before someone else sees you."

Roxas could begin to feel the anger surface at being ignored, pushed away, at standing here in the first place, at everything and he grabbed a hold of it. "You don't understand anything! You've never understood. I trusted you. It's why I'm here, right now because when I had nothing but darkness somebody once told me we were friends. But if you rather forget that, walk out on me the first time I need you then you're no different then any of the others."

Roxas knew he was laying it on thick and the back of Axel's shoulders shook as the redhead laughed deeply, spinning to face him, voice turning low and dangerous. "You can't pin this all on me, when you started this and put me through hell, Rox. Finally, when I thought I was beginning to move on, you're back. And I can't become involved to lose you again. I'm through." Axel said with icy finality, walking away again. "Whatever it is, fix it yourself."

Roxas watched, feeling like his tongue was glued to the roof of his mouth before automatically saying the one thing he knew would get through to Axel. "I'm going to go through with it. I'm going to awaken Sora."

Axel froze, staring back at him with a fleeting look of fear and anxiety. His mouth partially open as if trying to find something to say, a cutting silence flowing between the two of them. Axel narrowed his eyes, meeting Roxas's unwavering gaze.

The silence was soon broken by heavy footsteps, then Xigbar's amused and booming voice, his figure barely recognizable, hidden from around a corner. "Hey Axel, what are you doing over there? Find something interesting?"

"You could say that," Axel instantly shouted back, smirking at Roxas. "If you call our dual keyblade wielder interesting."

Roxas was furthest away from Xigbar, behind Axel, and had made no signs of movement but he momentarily found himself consumed by panic and a sense of betrayal, not giving himself a chance to think, he jerked back, reacting on reflex, reaching to summon his keyblades.

He was stopped by Xigbar's low but ear splitting laughter, sounding much like the free shooter was doubled over, his jagged shadow twisting on a far wall. "As if, good one Axel!"

"Right," Axel replied. "Don't wait up."

Xigbar laughed harder. "Whatever man."

Roxas could still feel Axel's eyes on him, burning into him, expression unreadable and it was only then he realized he'd forgotten to breathe. His throat felt tight, and his mouth had gone dry. He fought not to gasp, seriously wanting to rip Axel apart. Axel simply half smiled, motioning to him. Roxas grudgingly let himself be led into another obscured street until they were out of hearing range and Xigbar's laughter had died down. Everything was dead silent, just the two of them like Roxas had wanted it. "You're still a complete jerk." He bit out as soon as it was safe.

"Calm down," Axel said unconcerned. "He never would have believed me and now you know what the shock feels like."

Roxas ignored him, distancing himself from Axel until his back came into contact with a wall and they were standing on opposite sides of the street. The narrow space was beginning to agitate him and he found himself instinctively scanning the area for escape routes and any potential threats but so far coming here had led to only nothing. His anger was soon replace by a surge of frustration. He didn't have time for any of this. "Are you going to help me or not?"

"You know Rox? The best friend I've considered dead is suddenly back and now you're making up something about merging with Sora," Axel put his thumb and forefinger together, grinning a bit insanely. "So forgive me if I'm a little not altogether right now."

Axel didn't believe him or was trying to get a further reaction out of him. It made sense when Roxas wasn't sure what was even real anymore. He didn't say anything, finding himself focusing on a distant point over Axel's shoulder.

"Its been a really tough few weeks," Axel continued, breathing in deeply, tiredly and Roxas could hear the hesitation in his voice, as if he was trying to amend for what had just happened. Axel was a master at concealing things, at playing mind games. Roxas wasn't any exception to it as Axel would constantly jerk him around, sometimes even exploding at him first, then half regretting it later. It was fine with Roxas. He was always able to stay one step ahead, return anything Axel could think of, now it was just unnerving how easily they were falling back into their old routine. "And I meant what I said. But I know you wouldn't risk coming here unless there was no other way. Roxas if you're in some kind of trouble…"

"I'm not in trouble." Roxas said placidly. Almost against his will his eyes darted in the direction of the castle. He still couldn't shake it from his mind and if anything, no matter what good it did, he should know, only because once he'd been apart of all this and as much as he tried to deny it, he always would be to an extent. "The castle? What happened?"

Axel frowned and for a moment Roxas didn't think he would answer but he only stared distantly out at the street. "Almost a month ago we attempted Kingdom Hearts."

Roxas bit into his tongue, somehow trying to keep himself anchored but he wasn't surprised. Xemnas always had a habit of pushing things too far which had only increased with the failure of Castle Oblivion. Without Sora, Kingdom Hearts was supposed to be unattainable unless the superior had really just deluded himself to the point where he thought there had been a way. Still Roxas found himself looking down at his hands, trying to see if anything had changed but there was nothing. "It didn't work."

Axel shook his head. "Xemnas rushed it before it was complete. He was starting to become… desperate. Maybe he finally realized he wasn't getting a hold of Sora any time soon. Kingdom Hearts was unstable but we were close. You know I've never had much hope in the whole Kingdom Hearts thing but for a split second I could feel it, Rox. For a split second I knew why we've been trying so hard for this, that everything we had done so far was worth it."

Nothing had been worth it. No matter what Axel said it was the one thing Roxas was certain of. Not with Xemnas and his god like complex, trying to create a new order. Not with the organization taking control of the heartless and lesser nobodies, releasing them into worlds, letting them multiply and corrupt anything they touched, all for the sake of slaying them later, all for Kingdom Hearts. Xemnas had never cared who'd gotten in the way, never cared about the countless casualties and now everything was only spinning out of control. Hayner, Pence and Olette weren't worth it. Kairi wasn't worth it.

Axel gritted his teeth. "Then DIZ and an overgrown rat got in our way."

"DIZ…" Roxas repeated, finding it was all he could say.

"He had this machine type thing that he was trying to digitally seal Kingdom Hearts with," Axel continued resentfully. "And before we realized what was happening there was an explosion that took out a nice chunk of the castle and most of Xemnas's research." Axel snorted. "Castle Oblivion, countless missions, all of it pointless. Now we're back to square one, thanks to one suicidal old man. We found him in pieces later on."

It was hard for Roxas to believe what he was hearing. DIZ, who was the reason why Organization XIII was formed, who had him hunted down, who was more then willing to sacrifice him for Sora, who told him he was basically worthless, was gone. Once Roxas wouldn't have had any problem in ending his life, to take away his knowing eyes and his easy confident voice but DIZ had led him to Hayner, Pence, and Olette, had only been trying to protect the worlds and now Roxas didn't know what to think. "He's dead?"

"The back of his head was blown off." Axel smirked. "Yeah, I'd say he's pretty dead. Xemnas was also caught in the blast but he made it out alive, only he's different now, stays shut off. He's trying to rebuild but it's like he's lost his mind."

Xemnas was nothing to him anymore. He'd never drill false hope and half true ideas into his head again, would never use him, would never manipulate him again. The corner of Roxas's lips quirked upward, whatever happened Xemnas had deserved, brought on himself but Xemnas was a self proclaimed genius, immortal in his power and Roxas doubted an explosion would faze him much. He always found another way around. Xemnas needed to be stopped at all costs. Nothing would be over until he was but he wasn't who Roxas was worried about.

King Mickey, the name flooded his mind, bringing with it a sense of power, light, and longing that he knew wasn't his. He was the king Donald and Goofy were looking for and was nothing but a blurred image. "What about-"

"The rat?" Axel rose an eyebrow. "We haven't been able to find any traces of him, either he's been destroyed beyond recognition or somehow he got out. DIZ, the rat, they've always been in it together. Should have killed them both while we had the chance right? As soon as we found out what that bastard wanted to do with you."

Roxas cast his eyes downward, not wanting to look at Axel. He had the sudden desire to go after the mouse king, mixed with a cutting sensation of guilt and he didn't know if Axel was just acting oblivious or still trying to further work him up. "The heartless are spreading." Roxas said neutrally, not letting himself rise to anything. "They've made it to Twilight Town."

"It was only a matter of time Rox," Axel replied carefully. "That shouldn't surprise you."

"It doesn't but I…" Roxas trailed off, finding it hard to continue, partially anxious to what Axel's reaction would be to his friends, after their own warped friendship, after Roxas had pushed him away so hard. Roxas didn't want this to end before he even had a chance to explain what was going on, . "I have friends there. Hayner, Pence, and Olette."

"Friends?" Axel just laughed. "You mean the ones DIZ was going to hook you up with?"

Roxas eyed him skeptically. "You're talking about the simulation?"

"Right, Xemnas found out all the little details of it later on and do you remember when we had one of those missions in Twilight Town? I caught you staring at them?"

Roxas did remember it vaguely. He'd been on so many missions in the organization that passing faces were only distorted images but still there had been something there when he'd met Hayner, Pence, and Olette, an obscured sense of familiarity.

"They're not your friends Roxas," Axel finished. "What do you think would happen if they found out what you really are?"

Roxas could imagine it but he didn't think Hayner, Pence, and Olette would turn away from him completely. They'd be more worried, shocked, concerned but if they did, if they decided they didn't want anything more to do with him, Roxas wouldn't fault them. Nothing could erase the past year. He'd still care about them and for him that was enough. "Whatever happens, I'd still save them. That's why I'm merging with Sora."

Roxas could see Axel finally grasp the seriousness of the situation, something instantly changing between the two of them and a chill run up and down Roxas's spine as if he was standing on a thin layer of ice that could break at any moment.

"What are you now a martyr?" Axel snapped, clenching his hands. "You disappear for several months and come back, willing to throw your life away for what? A bunch of snot nosed kids?"

Roxas shook his head, their conversation was only going in a downward spiral and he needed to get it back on track "That's not the point. I wouldn't have any reason to be here if this was only because of them. You know that!"

"Right you would have already merged with him by now. So what's holding you back Rox, enlighten me."

"There's this girl."

"Right," Axel said dryly but looking strangely reassured. "Because it's always about a girl. Has Naminé been talking to you?" Roxas could see Axel's eyes glint in the darkness as he gave a twisted smile, his voice muted and half amused. "You ever see what crayons and paper look like when they burn Rox?" Roxas felt his stomach lurch into his throat, feeling sick and frozen. "They're so easy to set on fire all you have to do-"

"Naminé had nothing to do with this!" He lashed out. "This was my decision alone and if you so much as touch her-"

"I wouldn't touch her," Axel waved him off with a dark undertone of amusement still in his voice. "So what girl?"

Roxas took a breath, forced himself to clear his head. He was shaking and he didn't think it was from the cold "Kairi."

"Kairi huh? I've heard of her, the redhead, lives on Destiny Islands. Naminé's little alter ego."

"Destiny Islands is falling and Kairi along with it. I need someone that can save her, be able to keep her safe." Roxas's face hardened, a steely determination in his eyes but his voice was laced with anxiety. "I've already destroyed one of his friends. I can't let the other die."

"So you expect," Axel said evenly. "For me to chase after some girl while I just let you do this?"

"Do you think I want to fade back into him Axel? I don't have a choice!" Whatever had been holding him together until that point, Roxas felt rip in half. He was a kid, losing everything, watching as it unraveled and crashed around him, facing death with no way out and he was terrified. He was soon shouting, not caring who heard him anymore. "Come on, it should have never gotten this far!"

"What are you talking about?"

"That night you never should have shown up." His voice hitched, sounding as if it didn't belong to him. "I should have let the dog take me, let DIZ do whatever he wanted with me."

"How can you say that?"

Lightening flashed in the sky and there was a low rumble of thunder, the first few raindrops splashing down onto his face. "Because then I would have woken up in a simulation and realized everything was fake. Hayner, Pence, and Olette would have been fake and it would have hurt but I would be joined with Sora by now. Then maybe Hayner's mom would actually care about him, Olette wouldn't flinch every time I get near her, and Pence wouldn't be fighting for his life inside a hospital room!" Roxas felt his throat constrict and he swallowed. The hot stinging was back behind his eyes and he shut them tightly, lifting his hands to his face. "Then it wouldn't," He breathed, chocking. "Be so…hard to leave them."

"Roxas are you crying?" Axel sounded as if he was almost in awe.

Roxas let his hands slide from his face, his eyes completely dry. "Does it look like I'm crying?

"Right," Axel said a bit bitterly, slowly walking towards him "Because that would be impossible for us wouldn't it?"

Axel extended his arm, fingers spreading out against Roxas's cheek, threading through blonde hair, pulling him close.

Roxas immediately grabbed his forearms. "What-what are you doing?"

"I'm not doing anything." Roxas could feel Axel's warm breath against his forehead. "You said no one would miss you. That's not true. I miss you. I've missed you every second." Axel pulled him closer, arms encircling his shoulders. "Listen to me for once you don't have to do anything you don't want to. All you have to do is walk away. We can leave right now, anywhere you want."

Roxas tensed, his arms falling useless by his sides, his every muscle stiff and rigged, wanting to jerk away and yet he didn't. He felt frozen, empty as if he wasn't really there at all. "You don't get it. I'm trapped. The worlds are all going to die with out him. Even if I left, what then? Watch as another world is destroyed? Anyone I get close to, I'm going to have to watch die over and over and over again."

Axel moved him until his forehead was against his shoulder, one hand rubbing softly up and down his back, the other threading back through his hair. "I want to tell you don't have to worry but you're right, I can't. We don't know what the future holds but I can tell you, whatever happens I'll be with you. Sacrificing yourself isn't the answer."

Roxas closed his eyes, taking a breath that sounded more like a sob. "We can eat sea salt ice cream."

"Right, sea salt ice cream." Axel sounded slightly confused. "Whatever you want."

It would be so easy to walk away, to never look back. It was tempting and still at the same time he knew he couldn't. He promised himself he'd save his friends and to abandon them now would be a fate worse then death. He wasn't the savior of the worlds and he never would be but he had the ability within himself to end this, end all of it. He meant what he told Naminé, he was so tired of running. Sora needed him, the worlds needed him, his friends needed him and for once Roxas actually felt satisfied with himself. There was only one choice, there would ever be only one choice. He shoved away from Axel violently.

Axel stared back at him, his expression somewhere between hurt and distant acceptance.

"No…" Roxas shook his head, finding it hard to talk. "No!" he repeated, louder. "I'm going to save them." A half shattered smile formed on his lips. "I'm going to save the entire universe."

Axel never had the chance to reply, there were echoing footfalls, Xigbar's ragged shadow, from only a few feet away. "What the hell's going? I thought I heard-"

Xigbar cut himself off, stepping up beside Axel, his eyes widened, his mouth flew open. "Holy shit! I thought you were joking."

It didn't take Xigbar long to come out of the shock, his face melting into a sneer. "Well if it isn't our little traitor." He stepped forward. "Hey Roxas, Roxas, Roxas."

Roxas took a step back, keeping his expression indifferent, trying to avoid any kind of confrontation. He soon found himself again back up against the wall, purple light from a glowing neon sign catching the silver of Xigbar's gun arrow. A sharp metal point trailed across his forehead. The rain started to fall heavier, the metal was wet. "So why'd you leave us?"

He didn't say anything, didn't move, the pressure increased, there was a sharp sting. He didn't want to fight, it would be useless, pointless, hold him back from helping Kairi, distract him from what he needed to do but Axel was only watching, his face unreadable, not making any effort to intervene. "C'mon answer me."

Out of the corner of his eye Roxas saw Xigbar's hand move on the gun arrow. He summoned the keyblades, automatically blocking something that had been aimed for his head. He moved forward, their weapons locked.

Xigbar didn't seem to be put off at all, he didn't even make a move to fight back, instead laughing heartily. "Yeah, now there's that look. That's what I'm talking about."

Then Axel was beside them pushing at Xigbar's shoulder. Xigbar didn't protest and the chakram wielder moved between them. "Alright, enough. Roxas I think now would be a good time for you to-"

"Get out of here," Roxas finished.

"Bingo."

Roxas urgently met Axel's eyes. "And Kairi?"

"Sure," Axel answered monotonously. "You want the girl. I'll get her for you."

Roxas quickly nodded, running down the alleyway until he had enough space to call a portal, gone within a few seconds.

Axel and Xigbar just stared at each other, Xigbar frowning with still a trace of disbelief, the free shooter soon breaking the silence. "So, what was that I think I heard? Number XIII wants to save the universe. In other words he wants to merge with that keyblade kid."

Axel made his way past him, heading back to the Castle That Never Was.

"By the way what did he mean Kairi?" Xigbar fell into step beside Axel. "What was he-"

"Nothing, it's not important."

Xigbar looked liked he wanted to comment farther but sighed and let it go, rubbing at his chin thoughtfully "You know one of us is going to have to report this."

"I know, I'll report it."

"Nobel of you man." Xigbar snickered. "Especially since what Xemnas is going to order you to do now." Xigbar made a strangling noise in the back of his throat. "Fitting how you want to take care of your best friend."

Axel walked faster.

Xigbar leisurely stretched out his arms behind his head. "I have to admit though. I never thought you had it in you."

Axel paused, before he resumed walking again, his voice low and chilling. "The Roxas I knew is already dead."

0o0o0o0

It was still slightly dark outside and in the early hours of morning when Roxas found himself back at the hospital, standing in front of Pence's door. He'd came straight here, his Organization XIII cloak, lying in the nearest trashcan. This was where he needed to be, wanted to be, he had to say goodbye, his friends deserving that much. He took a quick breath, gripping Oathkeeper's keychain. It offered him a small sense of comfort, and his hold tightened until he could feel the smooth thalassa shells digging into his palm. He reached for Pence's doorknob, warily turning it, the door came open.

Pence was exactly the same as when he'd left but Pence's parents, Hayner, and Olette were gone. Roxas didn't know if he was disappointed or relieved. He expected to see his friends but he still didn't know how he was even going to face them and as much as it tore him apart to admit it, maybe it was better this way. Then after what had happened back in The World That Never Was and with what he was about to do, with death feeling closer with each passing second, he didn't want to be alone.

Roxas made his way over to Pence's bed, adverting his eyes, anything not to look at his friend's scarred and broken body. He grabbed a chair from by the wall, pulling it in front of Pence's beside, sitting down, staring at the floor completely lost, turning Oathkeeper over in his hands, listening to the heart monitor and Pence's steady breathing. He'd never been good at this, he shouldn't have to be good at this, no one should be especially Hayner and Olette. It felt like hours later when he finally forced himself to look up, his eyes taking in what he didn't want to believe was one of his best friends. Roxas was instantly over flooded with guilt, anger at everything, the organization, the world, himself.

He leaned forward, took Pence's hand, holding it lightly in his own. The skin was warm and the color was back, his lips not having the blue tint anymore, no blood in his lungs. Roxas remembered that the doctor had said it was going to be a long road back to recovery. He squeezed tighter. "You're going to be okay but you have to keep fighting alright? No matter what happens don't you dare give up."

Roxas clenched his eyes shut, turning his head away because he didn't know if he could stand to look at Pence any longer, and despite his best efforts his shoulders shook. "I'm sorry Pence. I'm so sorry." His voice faded into something that wasn't even a whisper. "This is all my fault. If I wouldn't have waited so long you wouldn't be like this. I'd take everything back if I could but… I can't. Maybe someday you can forgive me."

Roxas could see Pence's reaction, his friend giving him a blank look before waving him off, chuckling and telling him never to mention it again because there was nothing to forgive him for. "I know you'll pull through this because that's what you do right? You always pull through. I'm not going to have the chance to be here for you but I am going to stop them. If nothing else I'll stop them. So all you have to do is keep fighting understand?"

Roxas let Pence's hand fall from his, focusing his attention back on Oathkeeper. Running his hands over every corner, every curve, trying to remember every detail. He could almost feel where Kairi's fingers had been as she delicately laced the shells together. He could nearly feel her hands as she turned his over, placing the charm in his palm. _"Take this. It's my lucky charm. Be sure to bring it back to me."_

Roxas let himself slump back in his chair, both physically and emotionally exhausted. There wasn't a place that he couldn't feel stinging, hurting. "Kairi…" He eyes grew heavy, started to close. He didn't want to sleep but he wasn't able to fight it.

It felt like he'd just closed his eyes when he was awakened by the door slamming. He jerked his head up, seeing Hayner, with his hands fisted, his eyes narrowed. Olette was directly behind him, quiet and uneasy, her gaze on Roxas, filled with a mixture of confusion and relief. Roxas could handle the anger but looking at Olette only made the guilt resurface.

Hayner took a step forward. "Where the hell have you been?!"

"Out," Roxas answered neutrally. "I had something I needed to take care of."

"And whatever it was," Hayner seethed. "Was more important then being here with us?"

"Yeah, actually it was."

Hayner looked torn but he uncurled his hands, breathing hard, struggling with the effort to calm himself. "Fine I believe you," He said, voice tight. "So you had a good reason, a really good reason. Tell us what it was then."

"I can't do that."

Roxas expected Hayner to shout at him again but instead he just looked disappointed and hurt. "C'mon Roxas, do you have any idea how worried we were about you? No one knew where you were, no one had seen you. We looked everywhere. You owe us an explanation."

Roxas opened his mouth to reply but froze. Hayner was right, more then right but what was he supposed to say to them? That he was the shell of the universe's savior, he had killed, he didn't have a heart, he wasn't really alive? After what they'd all gone through, Hayner and Olette were entitled to the truth. Roxas trusted them, believed in them and he wanted to tell them, tell them everything but he couldn't. The organization was dangerous and he didn't want them involved but then they had been involved from the first moment they became his friends. To know was their choice, their decision, and still the words refused to leave his throat.

"Roxas," Olette said softly, breaking through to him. "Did… did it have something to do with those things?"

"What?"

"I thought since you're bleeding…"

"Bleeding?"

Olette brushed a hand from the middle of her forehead to the corner of her eye. "Right here."

Roxas copied her, feeling a jagged raised line and a thin layer of crusted blood. He hadn't even realized Xigbar had broken the skin. "It's nothing."

"Guys look, I…," He stood up, heading to the door. This was it, the last time he'd ever see them. He wanted out of the room before he ran out of the strength to go on. "I came back to tell you that I have to leave for awhile and I don't know if I'll ever be back but I thought… I thought you should know."

"Roxas, I don't understand," Olette's voice shook.

He didn't answer, reaching for the doorknob to have Hayner push him back. "I don't know what you're talking about but if you think I'm just going to let you walk out of here without-"

"You have to Hayner."

"No! There's been something weird going on with you and you're not going anywhere until you tell us what it is."

Roxas dully met his eyes. "You can't stop me."

"You don't think I know that?" Hayner gritted his teeth, taking a step backwards, completely blocking the doorway. "Fine do it then go through me or tell us what's wrong because I couldn't live with myself for not trying. So either one way or the other. Go on do it."

"You wouldn't believe me."

Hayner crossed his arms in an unspoken challenge. "Pence was just attacked by some giant insect the sky looks like it's falling. Try me."

"I can't tell you!" Roxas shouted frustrated, looking for some way to explain. "There are things about me that you can never know. If I told you it would put you in danger. There's things… people out there that want me dead and they could use you against me and I can't do that."

Hayner gave him a bland look. "So there are people out there who want you dead? You'd have to get someone seriously ticked off for that to happen. Does it have something to do with the past you keep trying to hide from us because here I was thinking you couldn't remember anything."

"My memories," Roxas said slowly. "Have been coming back." It was at least the half truth.

"And you were planning on mentioning this when?" Hayner's voice was like a grinding drill. "That's not good enough Roxas. That thing that attacked Pence what was it? Where were you? If you're running from something, if you're in some kind of danger you need to tell us."

"Roxas," Olette said hesitantly, even a bit desperately. "Whatever it is. It doesn't matter. We can help. We're your friends."

"It's not that simple." He countered. "Where I'm going no one can help me. There's something I need to do and it has to be alone."

"But you don't know unless you try." Olette said firmer, a determined glare, making its way to her face as she went to stand beside Hayner, pressing her feet into the hospital floor, leaning slightly forward, anchoring herself. "If you want to leave then you'll have to go through me too."

Hayner's and Olette's persistence and concern was doing nothing for him, instead it was irritating him. He hadn't planned on confronting them like this and they were making things harder then they had to be. They didn't know what he was going through, what is was like not to have a heartbeat, to have the universe's weight strangling them, suffocating them, to have their destinies written in blood. It wasn't their place to act like they could help him. "Fine," He snapped, walking to the back of the room, pacing. "You want to know so bad I'll tell you. That thing that attacked Pence is called a heartless. They survive by stealing other's hearts and slowly consuming everything in their path until there's nothing left but darkness. Once they come they won't stop and everyone here, both of you are going to end up exactly like Pence unless I stop it."

Hayner and Olette stared back at him in a mixture of disbelief, shock, and fear. "The world's about to end and you're actually going to leave us." Hayner stated. "Exactly the same way you came into our lives."

"I'm doing this for both of you! To protect you!"

Olette's eyes were wide, her breathing coming in short gasps, looking mildly sick. She shook her head. "You don't need to protect us Roxas. We'll find a way out of this together."

They were missing the point, both of them were completely missing the point. "There is no other way Olette, you don't know how much I want there to be another way. Don't you understand what I'm telling you?! If I don't do this, you, Hayner, and everyone in Twilight Town is going to die! You have to trust me!"

"But we're not dead yet." Hayner's expression was defiant, stony. "And I'm not about to lose anyone I care about."

"How do we know what you're saying is even real?" Olette added. "I know you wouldn't lie to us about something like this at least not intentionally but Roxas how can you know this, how can you know any of this?"

Roxas glanced at the door, shut tightly from where Hayner had slammed it. Maybe he could tell them some of it, somehow avoid mentioning the organization. "Okay, but what I'm about to say doesn't leave this room."

Hayner and Olette quickly nodded.

"Heartless don't only steal hearts." Roxas started. "They take what's inside, your light, your darkness, your soul. Once your heart is gone you become a heartless. It's how they spread so quickly. But sometimes if someone has a very strong heart they become something else…a nobody. They're kind of like heartless but with a few different features and they still maintain human characteristics. They're smarter, stronger. Sometimes on extremely rare occasions someone can be reborn as a nobody, they keep a human appearance, and all their memories of their past lives. They become a soulless shell, they're not human, they're not anything."

Hayner bit into his bottom lip, Olette shuddered.

"About two years ago I sacrificed myself for someone very important to me." Roxas breathed in sharply. It was unnerving referring to himself as Sora but he quickly dealt with it and moved on. He closely watched Hayner and Olette. They looked as if they were standing on glass. "I pierced my own heart and I was reborn as Roxas. Only there were a lot of complications involved and I'm different from the others. I've have the ability to get my heart back, something that's unheard of but in doing so I can save the whole world. That's where I'm going."

"You mean all this time you knew about those things, you knew this could happen?" Hayner forced out harshly but mainly stunned. "All this time you've been one step above them. That can't be-"

"C'mon Hayner think about it. You know there had to be things about me that didn't add up that were off-"

"Well yeah…but-"

"Have you ever once noticed I don't have a heartbeat?" He could nearly see Hayner and Olette turning it over in their minds. All the times Olette had dragged him through clothing stores with her hand around his wrist, how he didn't have any family, his obscured past, all of his abilities, things he'd let slip, the way they had found him, his usual lack of emotion, how he didn't know basic things, how he was able to kill that heartless. He came to stand in front of them, turning his arm over, exposing the inside of his wrist. "Find a pulse." Hayner and Olette didn't say anything, they didn't move. "That's what I thought."

He reached for the door again and this time Hayner and Olette didn't try to stop him. He was half way down the hall when he heard Olette. "Roxas wait!"

He glanced back. Olette running up toward him, Hayner one step behind her.

"There has to be," Olette said anxiously as soon as she reached him. "Something we can do to help, anything."

"Just take care of yourselves," He replied automatically. "Do whatever you need to, to survive until help comes, it shouldn't be long. You can kill them too." He added. "Olette chased one off with a stick. Just hit them before they have a chance to see you, find something sharp and aim for their heads. If you see something else run."

Olette nodded, apprehensive but accepting. "Something else…? How many kinds are there?"

"There's several. What you saw was a Neoshadow, it's the easiest to kill and least dangerous." He paused. The last thing was simple but he was nearly afraid to ask. "And could you remember me as I am right now, as your friend, as Roxas, I want to know I've stayed in someone's memory."

The next thing he knew was that Olette had her one arm around his shoulders, her hand clutching at the back of his shirt. "We could never forget you," He could feel her tears against the side of his neck, her body shaking with sobs. "Never. Please Roxas, please don't leave. Please don't do this."

He awkwardly put his arm around her back. "I'm sorry." He whispered because it was all he could think of to say. Then a sudden thought occurred to him and he pushed Olette slightly back. "Hey Olette, can you hang onto something for me?" He didn't wait for her to respond, pulling out Oathkeeper and handing it to her. "I'm not even the one who should have it."

"What is it?" Olette sniffed, blinking back tears, dangling the star shaped keychain in front of her face. "Some kind of charm?"

"It's a keychain, it's Oathkeeper."

Olette forced a smile. "It's cute."

Roxas smirked at her before taking out Oblivion and extending his arm out toward Hayner. "Hayner, Oblivion."

His friend reached for it, holding it in the palm of his hand, running his thumb over the glinting ebony surface, over each point of the crown. "It feels strange, like there's some kind of power in it."

"There is and they're part of what has kept me alive for so long. They used to be my whole life." Oblivion meant the absence of memory and Oathkeeper to keep a promise. For the longest time they had been the only tie to who he really was. They'd been his past, his present, his future. They only thing to grab a hold of when there had been nothing. "But they're not really that important to me anymore. When a kid named Sora comes here give these to him. You can't miss him. He'll probably be with some talking animals and he looks kind of… like me but with brown hair spiked all over the place. They're his."

Olette clutched Oathkeeper tightly to her chest. "We understand."

"So, I'll see you then." Roxas raised his arm to bump his forearm with Hayner's, their signature handshake. Hayner stared at him for a moment before pulling him into a hug. "I don't care what you have to do, what you are. You're still the same Roxas I've always know. You're still my best friend."

"Whatever you have to do Roxas," Hayner said as soon as he released him. "Whatever is going to happen you have to promise, you'll try, you'll try as hard as you can to make it back to us."

It felt nice not to have to carry the whole secret around them anymore. After all the things he'd done Hayner and Olette still just wanted to help him. He didn't deserve them as friends. "Yeah… I promise." It sounded fake even to him.

He turned away, Hayner and Olette trying to force themselves not to run after him, Olette's hand slipping into Hayner's even with the charm.

0o0o0o0

He was standing just before the gate to the mansion, each step seeming heavier then the next. He took a breath, forced himself to keep going. There was a heavy crunching sound and he jerked his head to the side, immediately on guard. He scanned the area but didn't see anything. "Naminé?"

He shook his head, continued forward but the sound came again. Then Axel was there, shoulder bushing against the brick fence, Roxas trailing him wearily with his eyes until the redhead came to stand between him and the gate. A chakram forming in his hand as he tossed it idly into the air, catching it. "Guess again Rox."

0o0o0o0

Notes: I'm so sorry guys! I know it's been about 10 months since I've updated. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter out soon. Thanks for waiting and putting up with me.

Also do you think that last scene with Axel and Roxas in The World That Never Was was too ooc. I thought it might work since they hadn't seen each other in so long and I wanted to show Axel as offering Roxas a way out. I want back through the chapters and changed a few things since one of the things Axel says to Roxas wouldn't make sense unless I did but it's nothing big. And I don't even know if Roxas has the Oathkeeper and Oblivion keychains. I just thought it would be a nice touch if he gave them to his friends.

Thanks so much for the reviews. I really appreciate them so much. Especially Kimitala whose been with me all this time.


	14. Disappear

_We can talk for hours just staring at the stars  
_

_They shine down to show us_

Chapter 12: Disappear

"So they've sent you to kill me." Roxas said coldly.

Axel smirked. "Good job Roxas, way to figure it out."

Roxas didn't move. "I don't want to fight you."

"Then come back to the organization."

"Go to HELL!"

"Thought you'd say something like that." Axel drawled. "But go to hell? You couldn't come up with something say I don't know…more original?"

"Could you do it?" Roxas ignored him but with a finality to his voice. "Could you actually look me in the eyes and kill me?"

Axel hesitated, his hand tightening on the chakram. "Hopefully it won't come down to that. I'll be able to stop you but if it does, better me then the rest of them kid."

Roxas narrowed his eyes. "You can't beat me Axel. You could never beat me."

"Hey, don't be so quick to count me out, especially now that I have everything on the line."

"I said I don't want to fight you but I will." Roxas reached out his hand for the keyblade, Kingdom Key materializing instantly, feeling flimsy when compared to Oathkeeper and Oblivion. He held it out in front of himself. "I'll go through you!"

"Kingdom Key that's it?" Axel was smiling. "And here I was looking forward to a challenge."

"It's all I need."

There was no comeback and before Roxas could blink, Axel was gripping both chakrams and a ring of fire was spreading across the ground, consuming everything in its path, hurtling towards him. He dodged, the flames licking at his heels as he ran for the fence, his foot coming into contact with solid brick. He balanced himself enough to run up it and toward Axel, meeting him in mid air.

Their weapons crashed followed by a series of strikes, Roxas using the momentum to stay upright. They used to spar, had done this countless times before and it felt nearly routine but there was nothing holding Roxas back now, his every move meant to cut, to damage, to kill. They were soon repelled backwards, Roxas falling to the ground, surrounded by a wall of flames, Axel landing artfully with his arms spread and one knee just above the grass. Axel lifted himself to his feet, his chakrams glowing and dancing as fire twisted around them, where he was standing looking like molten lava. Roxas was just able to see a chakram swing past him in a narrow arch. He barely managed to dive away, feeling it whistle past his ear, the intense heat of it grazing his skin, as it instantly returned to Axel's hand. Roxas scrambled to his feet, running forward, needing to be at a closer range but Axel was ready for him, lashing out with a chakram aimed at his throat. It came within inches and Roxas was forced to dodge and distance himself again.

Roxas was breathing hard, his throat dry and his mouth tasting like ash. He ran the few feet he was able to, leaping up, trying to get airborne again and escape the flames, moving his keyblade in an array of nearly invisible twists and turns to give himself enough leverage to climb upward. Somehow, Axel was already there. They slashed at each other, Axel throwing a chakram in the same motion. It came from behind him.

Roxas tried to jerk away to find his keyblade was trapped between two points of Axel's remaining chakram and before he was able to let go, Axel moved his arm, wrenching him forward, making him lose his balance. Roxas tried to spin, to avoid the still coming chakram but it sliced into his shoulder and then he was falling, this time into the wall of fire. He tried to maneuver himself, to twist out of the way but he wasn't able to completely and then flames engulfed his arm. White flashed in front of his eyes and somewhere Roxas knew he was screaming. He could hear it distantly, the taste of ash in his mouth mixing with blood. He could smell his own flesh burning and he desperately swallowed back the need to vomit. He curled onto the ground, the flames quickly dying, clutching at his arm, taking sobbing breaths.

"Roxas…?" Axel's voice was shaky and hesitant.

Then Roxas was rising drunkenly to his feet, moving again, using the pain to push himself forward because it was all he had, running on sheer will and adrenaline He wouldn't let Axel stand in his way, not after everything that had happened for him to be here. It felt like he was moving faster then before and he managed to get under Axel's defenses. With a cry, he swung the keyblade upward and even with one arm, he knocked away one of Axel's chakrams. Roxas swung again, moving faster. Axel moved to counter but was a split second to slow and then it was all over. Roxas felt his keyblade rupture Axel's chest, cutting through muscle and crushing bone, the point coming out from the other side of his back. Roxas felt himself begin to waver and he half fell, half stepped backwards, even while Axel collapsed to his knees, doubled over, clutching at his chest, and gagging on blood.

Roxas didn't move. His eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat, staring at Axel and briefly thinking of Riku. Slowly Roxas forced himself to overcome the shock, biting into his cracked bottom lip. He lifted his arm, summoning his keyblade, the weapon dematerializing from Axel and reappearing back in his own hand before he let it vanish again. Roxas didn't say anything, turning his head away, not sparing Axel a glance even while it wasn't blood flowing from Axel's wounds anymore but shimmering darkness, even while Axel started to fade away, half dead and losing consciousness, to out of it and too weak to stay in Twilight Town any longer. Axel would be okay, he was always okay.

Roxas stalked past him although it was more like limping. He felt Axel's hand shoot out, long spidery fingers, tightly gripping his wrist. "If you do this, I'll get you back. I don't care what I have to do. Somehow I'll find a way to get you back."

"Let go of me!" Roxas's voice was raspy and his throat burned, he jerked his arm away. "No you won't." He added, narrowing his eyes. "Don't dream remember? It's dangerous."

Axel didn't reply, not able to make a further move to stop him, looking distantly out at the wooded path in front of the mansion. Roxas took another step forward, hesitating. "You need to find Kairi."

"Like I said earlier. Sure. Don't worry about it."

Roxas's throat felt tight and he swallowed, trying to get the taste of ash and blood out of his mouth. "Axel…" It suddenly felt very hard to form words. "Thanks…for everything." Then he broke out into a run.

0o0o0o0

Roxas found himself walking the same underground path he had nearly a year ago in order to get to Sora. The mansion was still the same small blue maze of paths and walkways, layered with machinery, tubes, and white lights. The machines looked neglected, a fine layer of dust coated what was once shinning metal. Roxas had no intention of venturing back into the room were he'd broken DIZ's project. He was becoming unsteady on his feet, black edges starting to frame his vision. His arm throbbed so badly he thought he could feel it in his head and blood was running down his shoulder, making his shirt stick to his back. But he couldn't stop. He was nearly there, steps away.

"Roxas?"

He jerked his head up at the sound of his name, relief flooding him as he saw Naminé. She looked unsure and concerned, her gaze drawn to his arm. For a moment, he just stared at her, trying to fight back the pain and dizziness. He wasn't alone anymore. Naminé somehow was always able to find him, always able to stand back up no matter how hard she'd been knocked down, no matter all the times she'd been cast aside. He felt like he did, when they'd eaten sea salt ice cream together, when he'd wanted to brush her hair back. She meant more to him then what maybe he had even realized, more then what he was capable of expressing. He wanted to tell her but his thoughts felt as if they were rushing together, the dark edges of his vision overtaking him, and then the next thing he knew he was falling heavily onto the floor.

"Roxas!" Naminé shouted, running toward him and dropping to her knees while he struggled to sit up.

"It's alright." He said quickly. "I'm okay."

She reached out a shaking hand, her fingers hovering over his shoulder without touching. "What happened?"

Whatever Roxas had been thinking before was replaced by a flash of irritation. He wanted to snap back a retort. He was bloody and his arm was covered in burns. _What did she think happened? _But it only took one look at her face and whatever he'd wanted to say died. She looked so afraid, so worried, her breath hanging on his every action. He'd been gone for awhile and she'd been here waiting without knowing what was going on. He must have looked a lot more cut up then he thought. He caught her eyes and the mind numbing panic to his awaiting death faded. It was just him and Naminé in an ordinary underground tunnel. He tired to give her a reassuring smile. "I had a fight with Axel but it's alright. It's over now."

"Did-did he agree?"

Roxas blinked at her. It took him a moment to make the switch back to Kairi, why he was burned, why he'd sought Axel out in the first place. "Yeah, he said… he said he'd find Kairi."

Naminé sighed, letting her shoulders slump, her built up tension draining away as she moved to his side. "Thank you Roxas." Without asking, she took his uninjured arm and placed it over her shoulders. They rose together, Roxas stumbling a bit and leaning against her heavier then what he intended, the two of them slowly making their way to Sora's room.

"I thought you weren't coming." Naminé said after a moment.

"I said I'd be here."

Naminé nodded but didn't reply further and soon Roxas was back in front of Sora's pod, back in the blinding white room. He pulled away from Naminé, keeping his eyes adverted from Sora and limped over to closest wall before collapsing. There was a buzzing sound that Roxas soon noticed was coming from the lights and they soon flickered out, casting everything in complete darkness before coming back on again and a minute later repeating the process. "You ever try fixing the lights?"

Naminé shook her head, glancing upwards. "No, I tired to leave everything as it was. I mean I haven't really touched anything. Besides, it doesn't matter now. They've been doing that for the last few months. I've gotten used to it."

Roxas shrugged, forcing himself to look at the drifting brunet. He only felt numb and cold like there was something he still had to do, something still missing. Looking at Sora brought everything back as if he could see his life flashing in front of his eyes. He could feel the familiar pulling sensation from the first time he'd been here. It was as if it was under his skin, wrapping around his every nerve, his every thought and then realization struck him like a physical blow. "His memories aren't complete yet."

"Not yet. I've done everything I can. He needs you Roxas."

"So I need to finish them." Roxas confirmed but every time he experienced Sora's memories they had just came to him. Some of them seemed to warn him of something, mean something while others felt more random. He had no idea how to provoke them. "How?"

Naminé walked over to the pod, placing her hand against the surface. "It'll just come to you but I can at least act as the catalyst."

Roxas eyed her uncertainly. "You can do that?"

Naminé face was the perfect mask of concentration. "I think so." Her voice was confident as she extended her other hand out towards him.

He reached for her.

_He was surrounded by purple, blue, and swirling white platforms that were suspended in mid air, the End of the World. He, the dog, and duck, staring out in front of them. _

"_Gawrsh," The dog said from by his side. "Is that all that's left of the worlds taken by the Heartless? "_

"_Those worlds will be restored if we beat Ansem, right?" He asked confidently and still his voice faltered. "But, if we do beat him and all these worlds become restored and disconnected, what's gonna happen to this place? And to us?"_

_He was floating through the air in a mass of dark gray clouds, the duck and the dog right behind him. Something moved before him in a ring of electric blue. It was a gargoyle like creature with bulging muscles and skin so dark it looked to glow. It had curving horns and shinning white eyes, with sturdy bat like wings erupting from its back. He remembered it was called a Chernabog. _

_He was somewhere that looked like his island home but he could hardly suppress the chill crawling over his skin because everything felt fake and wrong. The silver haired teen was standing with his back toward him, turning around, changing into a man with deep bronzed skin and long white hair. _

_He tried to reach out but it was too late._

_The man's golden eyes were glazed over as if he could see something no one else could. "All worlds begin in darkness, and all so end. The heart is no different." The man lifted an arm. "You see, darkness is the heart's true essence."_

_He was floating upward, everything was black. The man looked deformed, power reverberating off him in waves. _

_The duck and dog were falling away from him. He held the keyblade hard enough to bruise, the only weapon that could end this. "That's not true! The heart may be weak. And sometimes it may even give in." He rushed toward the man. "But I've learned that deep down, there's a light that never goes out!" _

_There was a flash of light and then everything was falling, the man looked as if he was being burned alive. _

_The man was there again, surrounded in black, arm stretched desperately toward a long white door. "Kingdom Hearts! Fill me with the power of darkness!" The man's arm was straining, shaking. _

"_You're wrong." He countered, fisting his hands and floating in front of the duck and dog. "I know now, without a doubt, Kingdom Hearts is light!"_

_The door opened and everything was flooded in white and blue light, so intense it burned. The man tried to shield his eyes but he was engulfed with it, disintegrating with it, bursting with it._

_He could see inside the door, gold light against structures of black he couldn't identify and slithering pools of darkness. A shadowed figure was standing in the middle of it all, in the form of a mouse, a key clutched tightly in his hand, held above his head. "Now, Sora! Let's close this door for good!"_

_He pushed against the door along with the duck and dog but it was so hard. His arms were aching and he only managed to make it budge. Then he could see the silver haired teen on the other side and with the two of them working together, it was so much easier. The door continued to close but he could still see inside if only barely. The silver haired teen didn't look afraid only accepting. "Take care of her." _

_He didn't want to lock the door, more then anything he didn't want to lock the door but there was no time and there was no choice. He lifted the keyblade and on the other side, he knew the mouse was doing the same. The door disappeared, vanishing to nothing right in front of his eyes. _

_He was running to the redheaded girl with a sense of urgency. "Kairi!" _

_She stepped toward him. "Sora!"_

_The ground split between them and she stumbled. He caught her hand, didn't let her fall. As long as he was there he'd never let her fall. "Kairi, remember what you said before? I'm always with you, too. I'll come back to you. I promise!"_

_The ground between them was growing further apart. He leaned forward, still clutching her hand, tying to hang on for only a moment longer until they were both forced to let go. Like the silver haired teen, she looked unafraid. "I know you will!"_

_He was walking down a winding dirt path that he couldn't see an end to. There were several trees and emerald green grass. It was sunny along with a warm breeze. His hands were behind his head with the duck and dog on either side of him. The duck turned to him. "Well, now what do we do?"_

"_We've gotta find Riku and King Mickey." He answered without thinking._

_The dog looked thoughtful. "But, uh, where do we start lookin' for that there door to the light?" A strange yellow dog, the same one he'd met at the beginning of his journey, walked out directly in front of their path, a letter held proudly in its mouth, with a silver seal in the shape of a mouse's head._

"_Pluto?" The duck questioned, surprised. _

"_Gawrsh," His other friend commented. "That's the king's seal!"_

_He bent down slightly, one hand on his knee, the other extended toward the dog. "Hey, have you seen King Mickey?"_

_The dog turned and ran down the path._

_He motioned for the duck and dog to follow him. He couldn't keep the smile from his face. "Let's go!" _

_It was nighttime and they were further down the path but had lost track of the dog. His two animal friends were asleep and he was alone. The path looked a lot different at night, the sky large and vacant and everything cast in shades of black and blue. There was a rustle and he nearly jumped, spinning around but he couldn't find anything. He turned around again, this time seeing a figure in a black coat, standing several feet ahead of him. He couldn't see the face as it was completely covered by a large hood. He ran to it, but the figure faded away. _

_The next thing he knew he was on a winding white walkway. There was a castle right before him, it was massive, looking as if it had been built by piecing together mismatched parts. It was all towers, sharp angles, and in shades of yellow, brown, and blue. He took another step toward it and then it was like he couldn't see anymore, everything was sketchy, flashing, and falling. Then there was nothing._

"Are you okay?" Naminé asked softly. It was like when she'd been at the hospital kneeled before him, one hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, it's finished?" Roxas let his head fall backwards onto the white wall, staring up at the ceiling.

"It's finished." Naminé answered. "Whenever you're ready."

Roxas sat up straighter but still leaning back against the wall, eyes flickering to Sora then back to Naminé. "So how do I do this?"

"Go to him. Don't think about it. You'll just know."

Roxas didn't want to believe it was that simple. There had to be something more to it, anything else before his life completely ended. He felt the fear, the panic start to resurface. "I won't remember you will I? Or Hayner, Pence, and Olette. I won't even remember the organization. Everything I've done, everything I've been through will be as if it never happened."

Naminé leaned closer to him on her knees, folding her hands in her lap. "That's not true. You have friends, people who care about you. You've touched to many lives Roxas. They'll always remember you in their hearts. The most important memories will always stay with us. Sora wouldn't let me forget that."

He shook his head. "It's not the same. I want to catch that newest monster movie with Hayner and after this summer I was actually planning on going to school, just to make Olette happy. I want to be there for Pence when he wakes up. I'm sure Hayner, Olette, and I can distract him long enough to-"

"Roxas…"

"And I want to take you to get sea salt ice cream again. Talk to you again. I've pushed you away and I'm sorry for that."

"Roxas I-"

"There's still so many things I want to see Naminé, things I want to do, experience. I just feel like I'm starting to live."

"It's only a half existence Roxas."

He couldn't argue with that. "I don't care. I'm just… I'm not ready to die."

Naminé shifted forward, closer to him, her hand back on his shoulder. "No" He was startled by the ferocity in her voice. "You are not going to die and you are not going to fade away. I don't know what DIZ told you that night but there were so many things he was never able to understand. This is only the next step forward. You're completing yourself Roxas, becoming whole. This isn't the end. It's only the beginning."

Roxas didn't believe it. He was Roxas, would always be Roxas, he'd be losing his identity, everything he was. It wasn't just what DIZ had told him. His heart belonged to him, only him. He could never be ready for this but he was still eternally grateful to Naminé. He didn't think he could have gotten this far without her. She was able to make everything feel just a fraction better, hold him together somehow. She was his hope, his light. He met her eyes, trying to lose himself and before he knew what he was doing, he reached out the same arm she had her hand on, his fingers skimming across her cheek, tangling in stray blonde hair, and brushing it back. It was as soft as he thought it would be. "This is going to sound strange but I just want one moment to feel real for once, before it's all over. Naminé can I-"

She leaned her head forward. "It's okay."

He didn't know which one of them closed the gap but the next thing he knew his lips were pressed against hers'. It was awkward, wet, and he was strangely conscious of how chapped his lips were. He wasn't sure how to move his mouth and he didn't think Naminé did either. It really wasn't that great, nothing like how the movies made it seem, and they soon parted. But even with all of those things Roxas wanted to try it again but he never had the chance. Naminé was already standing, turning her back to him walking away, pausing at the entrance to the room.

"Okay, so I know it wasn't that great." He tried to joke. "But I didn't think it was that bad."

Naminé shook her head, her shoulders shaking. She didn't turn around. "It's not you Roxas. It's never you."

"Then what's wrong?"

"I shouldn't be here."

"What?"

"When Sora wakes up I shouldn't be here. He shouldn't see me." Naminé turned. Her eyes were wet but she wasn't crying. "He won't remember anything about me and he was the first real friend I ever had and now… now the only thing I want is to be with you too."

He wanted to go to her, hold on to her, needing her as much as she needed him but he didn't because now he wasn't sure if he would be able to let go. Whatever this was with Naminé he couldn't have, like everything in his life he couldn't hold onto. Trying would only be pointless, make it harder.

"So I've come to a decision." Naminé continued, her voice firmer. "I need to see Kairi. That way somehow we'll all still be connected and whatever happens I'll see it through to the end."

Roxas tried to smile for her. "Yeah, that's a good idea. At least keep an eye on her. Axel's not that trustworthy."

Naminé returned the smile. "It's going to work out. It has too."

"Thanks for being there for me."

"Thanks for making me realize what I need to do, for giving the strength to keep going and I'll always be there for you."

"This is the last time we'll ever see each other again." Roxas stated, climbing to his feet, his voice emotionless even if he was silently screaming for her not to leave him alone.

"It's not the last time," Naminé said without faltering. "We will meet again and you may not know it's me and I may not know it's you but we will meet again."

Roxas didn't know if he believed her or not. Naminé was able to know and understand things he couldn't and she was right to the point that it was chilling.

"You'll see." She must have read the doubt on his face.

"So I'll see you later then." He replied, this time saying the first part in their routine goodbye.

"Until that time." Naminé returned, squeezing her eyes shut, her breath hitching as if she was trying to fight back a sob. She was shaking, forcing herself to move and then she ran and Roxas was alone.

He limped over to the pod, staring up at Sora. "You've been sleeping too long. Everyone needs you out there. So here I am, stuck being your alarm clock."

Roxas stepped closer, placing his hand on the surface of the pod. "You need to save Twilight Town because I can't. You need to save my friends. So get going and if you let anything happen to them at all, then I'll come back here myself and make sure you regret it."

Roxas could feel the tugging in every part of his body, feel himself begin to fade. He wanted to pull away, more then anything he wanted to pull away but he gritted his teeth, forced himself to move closer, letting his forehead fall against the pod. "You have no idea how lucky you are. Do you?"

He closed his eyes when he saw his hand starting to disappear. _So this was all he was? All he was good for? Only the vessel to wake up Sora_. He wouldn't let that happen, he wouldn't let himself just become some forgotten part of Sora, wouldn't let himself cease to exist. He screamed inside his own head, _hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on_. Somehow he had to hang on, remain separate. He would fight for everything he was worth because that's what he did. He fought.

Roxas felt like he was floating, wasn't all there. It was getting harder to breathe, harder to think, everything was muddled, blurring together. "Sora, I still hate you."

He took his last breath. _Hang on, hang on, hang on. Don't disappear. Fight, somehow fight. Hang on, hang on, hang on, no matter where you're going, no matter what happens, even if you can't see anymore, even if you're going to hell, even if all you can feel is pain. Fight, fight, fight!_

"Sora…"

0o0o0o0

"_Sora…_"

He heard his own name echo through his head, in his own voice but somehow at the same time it was completely different.

He tried to answer back but it was hard. His mouth felt like it was glued shut and he barely managed to make his lips move. "Who-who's there?"

There was no reply.

Everything started to quickly come back to him and then Sora realized he was being pushed down, pressure surrounding him from all sides, covering every inch of him. He couldn't feel anything around him, not even the ground. He began to struggle, which turned into thrashing and then he was falling. He could handle falling, he'd grown used to it and his body was reacting even before his mind had a chance to catch up. He rolled expertly to the ground.

Sora forced his eyes to open. They were watery and gritty, stinging badly as soon as light hit them. He blinked rapidly, trying to focus. He was in a white room, with the light repeatedly blinking on and off. He forced himself to his feet, everything feeling different and strange, like he was taller somehow, in the wrong body. His muscles twitched painfully, his legs refusing to support his weight and he fell to his knees, his hand sliding against the smooth floor. "Donald! Goofy!"

Like there had been with the voice there was no answer, only his own voice echoing through the room, sounding much deeper then what he was used to. Sora scanned the room, forcing himself to stand again, making his way over to a wall. He bit into his lip to keep from crying out. He was so stiff, it was so hard to move, and it hurt, everything hurt, he couldn't keep his body from shaking.

He didn't know where he was but that wasn't important, waking up in strange places, was to the point where it was almost routine but everything felt so completely wrong and there was no sign off… "Guys!" He tried again. There was still no answer. Donald and Goofy would never leave him which made him think they might be in trouble somewhere. Maybe someone had put the three of them in this room, tried to separate them, although he couldn't imagine who. They had defeated Ansem but whatever had happened he needed to find them.

"Sora?" Something stirred from the back of his hood, hopped onto his shoulder.

"Jiminy," He turned his head. He'd nearly forgotten about the cricket and he latched on to the familiar presence, not feeling as alone. "Where are we? Where are Donald and Goofy?"

"I-I don't know."

Sora nodded. "Okay," He said, trying to sound back in control. "Then we'll just have to find out."

He focused on reaching the wall but was half crawling by the time he made it. Still he clutched at it, tried to anchor himself, determinedly moving forward, frustrated with how useless his body was being. The world felt like it was tilting, everything was spinning and starting to blur. He closed his eyes against the flickering light. He made it ten more feet before he fell to the ground, everything fading to black even as he tried to fight it.

He was vaguely aware of Jiminy jumping from his shoulder, calling his name.

The light flickered off again, casting everything in darkness. It didn't come back on.

0o0o0o0

Notes: Alright finally Sora is awake and now the story can actually start! Tell me if you thought the Roxas and Naminé thing was too rushed. I know I said at the beginning I wasn't going to pair them together and I'm still not really planning too. I had them kiss for a reason which is going to come up later and I wanted to show they have a strong connection. But like I said the story isn't really going to focus on the pairings and more on the storyline so if anyone doesn't like Roxas/Naminé don't worry about it.

Also Roxas is down but he's not out. I wouldn't put him through all that just to take him out of the picture and making Roxas and Sora interact is way to good to pass up. I want to do something different then have having Sora be able to talk to Roxas in his mind or have Roxas take control of their body. My idea's a little strange so that's just a warning. Next chapter is a Kairi chapter. Yay Kairi! Actually when I started this story I was kind of just neutral to her and now since writing her she's turned into one of my favorite characters.

So review replies:

Aove: Thank you so much for all your reviews and I'm so glad you're liking the story. Actually I did have a beta for a little bit but we kind of lost touch. Usually I just listen to you guys and then go back and change things but if anyone wants to volunteer that would be great or I may be doomed to having my roommate read this over. Anyway hoped you liked this chapter!

Meljanti: Thanks for taking the time out to review almost every single chapter. I loved reading your comments and thanks for pointing out some errors. I went back and changed them. I really hope you'll continue to like this.

Kimitala: You have really inspired me so much and I really love all of your reviews. I seriously don't deserve you as a reader. I'm really happy you liked the last chapter and thanks for the feedback on the characters. I hope this one turned out okay.

Eve: I'm so glad you're still reading. I remember you reviewed back in chapter 3. I really love your reviews and feedback. They've really helped me. I know the scene you're talking about. I was actually trying to make a reference to it. It's just that I made it same like Roxas tried sea salt ice cream for the first time with Hayner, Olette, and Pence so to make it work I would have to change some things around that I kind of like. I'm still kind of debating. Thanks for reading!

Caged Bird in Demon Arms: Thanks you for the review and I'm so glad you liked it! I hope the Axel and Roxas fight scene went okay.


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